The Hawks exacted a measure of revenge against the Wizards – in a big way.
Two days after losing in Atlanta, the Hawks came to Washington, D.C. and crushed the Wizards 122-101 Wednesday night at the Verizon Center. The Hawks led by as many as 21 points and set a season-high with 17 3-pointers in the victory.
The Hawks (42-30) went on a 25-5 run between the third and fourth quarters to break open a back-and-forth game. The run turned a 70-67 deficit into a 92-75 lead with 10 minutes remaining. Kyle Korver (2), Al Horford and Dennis Schroder hit 3-pointers as part of the impressive run. From there, the Hawks cruised.
Schroder led the six Hawks in double-digit scoring with a game-high 23 points. Paul Millsap had 17 points and nine rebounds. Korver finished with 15 points, including five 3-pointers. The Hawks also tied a season-high with 42 3-point attempts, half of their 84 field goal tries.
“Yeah, you can’t let a team beat you twice,” Millsap said. “It’s a tough league but as a team, as a team that wants to be great, you’ve got to take some pride in that. We took a little pride in that tonight. We came out and played angry and came out with the win.”
The Hawks have won six of the past seven games, nine of 11 and 11 of 14. They reduced their magic number to clinch a playoff spot to seven and it could reduce further depending on other results Wednesday.
The win tied coach Mike Budenholzer with Cotton Fitzsimmons for sixth on the franchise’s all-time win list with 140.
The Wizards (35-36) had their season-best five-game win streak snapped. John Wall (13) and Brady Beal (7) combined for 20 points. The duo had 52 in Monday’s win.
The Hawks next host the Bucks on Friday.
