Atlanta Hawks Win 7th Straight, Beat Wizards 114-99
By John Buhler
The Atlanta Hawks beat the Washington Wizards, 114-99, to win their 7th game in a row. Ladies and gentlemen, Kent Bazemore has officially arrived at the 3.
The Atlanta Hawks have now won seven straight games since dropping their home opener to the Detroit Pistons over a week ago. Four games in five nights might ruin some teams. Not the 2015-16 Atlanta Hawks! Atlanta has picked up where last year left off and are a dominant force in the Eastern Conference.
This game naturally started out sloppy for both the Atlanta Hawks and the Washington Wizards. Both sat tied at 19 after the first turnover-riddled quarter. I don’t think that was basketball we saw in the first frame. It had more of a rec league feel to it. The was more action on the ground than in a soccer match.
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It was a close game through three quarters with the Wizards leading 78-75. Then Atlanta turned on the afterburners and blew the Wizards out in the fourth, outscoring the club 39-21 in the final frame.
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Washington turned the ball over 26 times to Atlanta’s 15. The dynamic backcourt duo of PG John Wall and SG Bradley Beal coughed up the basketball a combined 15 times. Many view this as the second best back court in the NBA behind the Splash Brothers of the Golden State Warriors. Though Wall and Beal are immensely talented, the turnovers displayed tonight are concerning for Washington HC Randy Wittman.
Besides the turnovers, Wall had a good game for the Wiz with 19 points and 12 assists. The Wizards’ best player tonight was SF Otto Porter Jr., who had 23 points and shot 3-5 from three. Should he continue to emerge in 2015-16 at the three, then the Atlanta Hawks will have a major rival in the Southeast Division in the Washington Wizards this year. That’s a good team Atlanta just beat!
For Atlanta, it was all about SF Kent Bazemore tonight. He had a career-high 25 points, shooting 4-7 from three and 10-15 from the field. His emergence at the three in a starting role has been a major reason for the Hawks’ seven game winning streak. He was the best player on the court tonight, hands down.
Other guys who had a great game for the Atlanta Hawks were Paul Millsap, Al Horford, and Jeff Teague. Millsap had 21 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals. He also had a game-high +/- of +17. Horford was a rebound shy of a double-double (14 points, 9 rebounds). Teague had 10 points, 8 assists, and 5 steals! These Atlanta Hawks are pick pocketing fools.
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The Atlanta Hawks will have tomorrow off and will look to continue their winning ways versus the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night. Tipoff at is at 7:30 PM ET. Let’s Go Hawks!