Kispert flames former team to lift Hawks to consecutive blowout wins over Wizards

Things got a little chippy between the Hawks and Wizards on Thursday. But the Hawks completed their sweep of the miniseries between the sides with a 126-96 win.

The Hawks led both games wire-to-wire marking the first time since March 30-31, 2022, that the Hawks have had consecutive games where they’ve never trailed.

They also held the Wizards to fewer than 100 points in both matchups after downing them 119-98 on Tuesday. It’s the first time they’ve held an opponent under 100 points in consecutive games since Feb. 25-27, 2024.

Quick stats: Corey Kispert finished with a new career-high in points. He scored a game-high 33 points and had six rebounds. His surpassed his previous career high of 29.

CJ McCollum scored 25 points and had six rebounds. Jonathan Kuminga followed up his debut with 17 points and nine rebounds.

Dyson Daniels had 13 points, 11 assists and five steals in the win. He is the fourth player in the league this season to have a game with 10 or more points, 10-plus assists and five or more steals. He joined teammate Jalen Johnson, as well as Lakers guard Luka Doncic and Pistons guard Cade Cunningham.

Key moment

There’s nothing like facing off against a former team to add a little extra energy into the pack. While Tuesday’s meeting proved a little quieter, Kispert found a jolt.

Kispert started the night hot going 7-of-7 overall, with five made 3s for 19 points in seven minutes of play.

But the 26-year-old set a new career-high, with 30 points, when he cut to the basket for layup of an out-of-bounds baseline pass.

Highlight play

Forward Zaccharie Risacher caught the body of fellow Frenchman Bilal Coulibaly on a transition play in the second quarter. The power of the dunk seemed to catch the 20-year-old by surprise as he looked incredulous after the momentum carried him into the stanchion.

With 59 seconds to play in the half, center Onyeka Okongwu picked off Tre Johnson under the basket. He pushed the ball ahead to Risacher, who dribbled downhill and took off from the dotted circle.

Coulibaly went up to contest the dunk, but Risacher finished the play with his left hand. He drew a foul off Coulibaly who hit across the face on the challenge.

What they said

“I made a horrible pass, a terrible decision. JC (Justin Champagnie) took advantage of it and stole the ball. And I felt like when you make turnovers like that, you let the team down, you wasted a possession. And just my instinct to get it back and try to make a play. I was either gonna foul one really hard or I was gonna block a shot. So I’m glad I did it legally and made it up, made up for and got the ball back after such a bad turn.” -- Kispert on his chase-down block.

“I wasn’t sure I had it, and when I saw everybody’s reaction I realized I actually made that dunk. That’s why it took me a minute. It was good.” -- Risacher on his dunk on French national teammate Bilal Coulibaly.