At this rate, the Hawks might have to make a move at Thursday’s NBA trade deadline just to fill out their roster.
Already down to nine healthy players, the Hawks lost Jeff Teague to a left ankle sprain in the fourth quarter of a 114-97 loss to the Wizards Wednesday night at Philips Arena.
When it rains, it pours.
It was the seventh straight loss for the Hawks in a what-else-can-happen month.
“It takes a toll,” Lou Williams said of the mounting injuries. “You build a team in training camp and you play with that team for a few months and you kind of get in a rhythm and you know where guys like to go. Guys start dropping because of injury and your rhythm starts to get thrown off a little bit. Some guys are in positions they are not used to being in. It takes a toll.
“But, with all that being said, we are still right there in the thick of things. With the past month that we’ve had, we are still very optimistic about turning the tide. We just have to do a little bit more of helping ourselves.”
The injury to Teague does not appear serious. The starting point guard was walking without a limp in the locker room following the game. He answered “I’m all right” when asked his condition.
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer insists he doesn’t look at the NBA standings. It’s a good thing because he would see his team tumbling down the rankings.
The Hawks (25-28, 16-10 home) fell to sixth in the Eastern Conference with the loss to the Wizards, who are now a half-game ahead in the conference. The team spent much of the season in third place before the recent slide.
The Hawks last lost seven straight nearly seven years ago – March 21-April 4, 2007. To make matters worse, the Hawks had an 11-game win streak over the Hawks in Atlanta snapped.
Paul Millsap led the Hawks with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Elton Brand added a season-high 20 points and 11 rebounds. Teague (16), Lou Williams (14) and Kyle Korver (10) scored in double-figures. Korver extended his NBA-record streak to 122 games with a 3-pointer.
Brand, the 14-plus year veteran, has played 65 minutes in back-to-back nights as the only healthy center. The Hawks played without Al Horford, Pero Antic and Gustavo Ayon in the middle.
“It seems like we are dealing with a myriad of injuries,” Brand said. “We’ll find a way. I’m confident in our team. We definitely have enough players to win. We just have to find a way. We have enough talent on this team with the guys who are left to win some ball games.”
The Wizards (26-28, 13-14 road) had a three-game losing streak snapped and won for just the second time in seven games. John Wall had 21 points and 12 assists and no turnovers. Trevor Ariza and Bradley Beal each added 19 points.
The Hawks never led in the game. They trailed by as many as 20 points and cut the deficit to one point in the third quarter. That is as close as they would get.
Trailing by just two points, 85-83, with 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Martell Webster hit a corner 3-pointer. Williams missed for the Hawks with 2.9 seconds and Trevor Ariza got the rebound and launched a shot from the Hawks foul line, about 75 feet, that went in at the buzzer.
“It is a very fine margin of error for every team in the NBA,” Budenholzer said. “I think we had it two at the end of the third quarter and Martell Webster made a tough shot in the corner and I think we let our guard down a little bit and they made a shot from three-quarter court and it went from a two-point game to an eight-point game. That was a tough 10 second stretch.”
Millsap had 12 points, Brand had 10 points and Teague had seven in the third-quarter rally as they combined for 29 of the Hawks’ 36 points.
The Hawks stumbled out of the gate again. The Wizards led by 17 points in the first quarter as the Hawks shot a dismal 29 percent (7 of 24) from the field. By midway through the second quarter the Wizards led by 20 points. Just a night earlier, against the Pacers, the Hawks faced first- and third-quarter deficits of more than 20 points.
“We have to stay positive,” Korver said. “We are going to have guys coming back in the next few days, hopefully the next week. We have to keep on building. Don’t let frustration kill our habits. Keep on trying to play basketball the right way.”
The Hawks next travel to the Pistons Friday.
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