The Hawks had something to play for – and they still lost.
To the Wizards.
To the Wizards without four starters.
To the Wizards by 11 points.
The Hawks had a chance to finish as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and win the Southeast Division but dropped a 109-98 decision to the Wizards in the regular-season finale Wednesday night at the Verizon Center.
The No. 4 Hawks will play the No. 5 Celtics in an NBA first-round playoff series that begins this weekend in Atlanta. The Heat finished ahead of the Hawks despite blowing a 26-point lead in a loss to the Celtics Monday. In a four-battle battle for spots Nos. 3-6 that played out over the final weeks of the season, the Hawks, Heat, Celtics and Hornets all finished with 48-34 records. Tiebreakers were needed and the Heat bested the Hawks with a better head-to-head record.
“It’s time,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said of his post-game message. “Eighty-two games are done. This season starts now. It’s time to keep our heads up and start preparing and getting ready (for the playoffs).”
The Hawks enter the postseason having lost two straight games. Al Horford led the Hawks with 19 points. Jeff Teague added 16 points and Paul Millsap and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 13 points. Millsap added 11 rebounds for a double-double. Hardaway left the game in the third quarter with a right hamstring strain.
The Wizards (41-41) end their season with four straight wins after being eliminated from playoff contention. They played without starters John Wall, Bradley Beal, Markieff Morris and Marcin Gortat. Ramon Sessions, started in place of Wall and scored a game-high 22 points.
The Wizards broke open a one-point game with a 19-4 run in the fourth quarter to turn a one-point lead into a 16-point advantage with four minutes left. There was no time left for the Hawks to recover.
Most Hawks used the word disappointing to describe the loss to the Wizards with what was at stake.
“It’s very disappointing,” Kyle Korver said. “It’s very disappointing. We just played sloppy tonight. It’s inexcusable. But it’s done. We move on to the next game. It’s the playoffs and we have a fresh start. We are excited about that. We’ll start getting ready for that.”
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