The Hawks were right there.
And then they fell apart.
A fourth-quarter collapse led to the Hawks’ fifth straight defeat with a 104-100 loss to the Wizards Wednesday at Verizon Center in a nationally televised game. The Wizards went on a 24-8 run in the final quarter, including a stint of 4:41 seconds when the Hawks went without a field goal and had just five free throws.
The Hawks (37-34) continue to limp down the stretch of the regular season. They played without starters Paul Millsap, who missed a third straight game, and Kent Bazemore, who missed a second straight game.
After trailing by 12 points following the Wizards’ run, the Hawks got as close as three points, 99-96, with 1:07 remaining. They also pulled to within 101-98 with 10.6 seconds remaining. Bradley Beal made one free throw with 9.6 seconds left and the Hawks turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, a bad pass by Dennis Schroder for his 10th turnover of the game. Wall then made two free throws with 5.0 seconds left for the final margin.
The Hawks end the regular-season matchup with the Wizards 1-3 having lost the last three games. They are now 5-10 against the Southeast Division this season with a game against the Hornets remaining.
Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Hawks with a game-high 29 points. Schroder added 18 points and Dwight Howard had a double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds.
The Wizards (43-28) snapped a two-game losing streak. Beal had 28 points and Wall had 22 points, all in the second half, and 10 assists.
The Hawks led by as many as 12 points in the first quarter with a fast start. They took a 46-40 lead into halftime. The Hawks harassed the Wizards into 13 first-half turnovers that led to 20 points. Hardaway had 17 first-half points to lead the Hawks. Wall was held scoreless going 0 of 8 from the field and 0 of 2 from the free-throw line for the Wizards. The teams were tied 67-67 entering the fourth quarter.
