Trae Young led the Atlanta Hawks with 33 points, nine assists and eight rebounds as they went on to defeat the Washington Wizards 120-116. Bogdan Bogdanovic added 20 points three assists and three steals. John Collins chipped in 18 points, six rebounds and two blocks. Clint Capela had 17 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks.
With a little over 24 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Collins drilled a wide-open 3-pointer in the left corner and gave the Hawks a 117-116 lead, which was their first lead of the second half. The Wizards led by as many as 13 points in the final period.
Davis Bertans had a nice look at a three within the final 10 seconds of regulation, as that would’ve tied up the game at 119.
“Once I let it go, I thought it was going in,” Bertans said. “It hit the rim twice.”
After Washington took their 13 point lead, the Hawks responded with a 12-2 run, as Atlanta’s defense tightened up inside the paint and forced the Wizards into some lower percentage shot attempts. Bogdanovic and Collins combined for three triples during that stretch.
While the Wizards suffered another tough loss to the Hawks, there’s still a lot to like about them as they likely head into the play-in tournament. This was Russell Westbrook‘s sixth straight game of at least 15 assists, as he finished with 34 points and 15 dimes in this one.
Although Daniel Gafford should’ve gotten more than the 17 minutes he got in this one, he still made the absolute most of his minutes, as he finished with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
At this point, it seems likely that they’ll finish no better or worse than 10th place in the Eastern Conference, which will have them playing against either the Indiana Pacers or Charlotte Hornets in the play-in tournament, both very vulnerable teams. If the Wizards can get Bradley Beal back for the play-in tourney, then they stand a great chance of making it to the first round of the playoffs.
