In the Hawks postgame locker room, Mike Scott and Kent Bazemore held a video session of their own.
Scott got three views of his fourth-quarter dunk over the Wizards’ Bradley Beal on Bazemore’s cell phone. The dunk was an exclamation point on another Hawks home victory and sent players and fans alike into a wild celebration.
“I was just trying to make a play and be aggressive,” Scott said. “It happens. It felt good. Everyone got, what us young kids say these days, called hype.”
The Hawks (41-9, 24-3 home) lost a 16-point first half lead but rallied late for a 105-96 victory over the Wizards at Philips Arena Wednesday.
The Hawks have started another winning streak.
After having a franchise-record 19-game win streak snapped Monday, the Hawks responded. They have won 34 of the past 37 games and increased their lead over the Wizards in the Southeast Division to 10 games. It was the 13th straight win over an Eastern Conference opponent.
The Hawks have won all three games this season over the Wizards and reduced their magic number to clinch the division to 23 games.
“It was big to get a win and get back on the winning track,” Jeff Teague said. “We had a tough loss in New Orleans. We come home and get big win like this, we are happy.”
Teague led the Hawks with a game-high 26 points and eight rebounds. The Hawks also got double-digit scoring from Al Horford (21), DeMarre Carroll (14), Paul Millsap (11) and Dennis Schroder (10). Horford had a double-double with 13 rebounds. He had six offensive rebounds and moved past Cliff Levingston for ninth in franchise history (1,178). Millsap has scored in double figures 26 straight games, the second-longest stretch of his career.
The Wizards (31-19) lost their fourth straight game. They were led by John Wall with 24 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
The Hawks broke open the game with a 21-4 run between the first and second quarters. They jumped to a 15-point advantage, 34-19, with the run. It included four 3-pointers by four different players –Millsap, Pero Antic, Kyle Korver and Bazemore. The Hawks had seven different 3-point scorers in the first half.
The Hawks improved to 35-1 this season when they hold a lead of 10 or more points at any point during a game.
The Wizards made a small run and cut their deficit to eight points, 49-41, late in the first half. However, once again the Hawks had a strong close to a second quarter. The used an 8-0 run, including three-point plays by Horford and Teague, to take a 16-point edge. The advantage was 59-46 at intermission. Teague (17) and Horford (13) combined for more than half of the Hawks’ point total after two quarters.
The Wizards stormed back with a strong third quarter. They outscored the Hawks 28-18 in the period. They took a brief lead, 74-73. It was their first since the led 15-13 before the big Hawks’ run. The Wizards advantage lasted 11 seconds. The Hawks went on a 17-5 run to end the third and start the fourth quarter and never trailed again. They led 90-79 after the thunderous Scott dunk over Beal on a fastbreak with 6:45 remaining.
“Players can’t play 48 minutes,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “They had to take Wall out at some point. … Our guys’ effort of getting over and through screens was a little bit better.”
Horford said Budenholzer challenged the team to pick up the defense in the fourth quarter.
Next for the Hawks is the highly anticipated matchup against the Warriors Friday night in Atlanta. The game will pit the top two teams in the NBA and the leaders of the Eastern and Western Conference.
The NBA honored the Hawks’ 17-0 month of January, the best calendar month in league history, by naming all five starters the Player of the Month.
“It’s crazy,” Teague said. “It’s a cool thing. That just shows we’re a team. We’re always like that. That’s cool of the NBA to do that.”
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