Nobody got hurt. So, there is that.
The Hawks played without all five starters and were defeated by the Wizards, 108-99, in a game they trailed by as many as 25 points Sunday at the Verizon Center.
The Hawks rested Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, DeMarre Carroll and Al Horford and Paul Millsap remained out with a right shoulder injury. Coach Mike Budenholzer said he expects to use his normal starting lineup, possibly with Millsap, Monday at home against the Knicks.
The Hawks, who long ago locked up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, dropped to 5-4 when they rest one or more starters.
“We started off a little rocky,” Kent Bazemore said. “We weren’t really giving a full effort. Our pride picked up in the second half. We made it interesting there for a second. That is one thing we can take from the game. We didn’t give up. We kept fighting. We gave ourselves a chance.”
The Hawks trailed by as many as 25 points in the second half before a late charge. They got as close as nine points twice in the final five minutes but could get no closer.
The Hawks (60-20, 25-15 road) had a four-game win streak snapped. They finished the season series with the Wizards 3-1, missing a chance to sweep an 11th team this season. That chance will come again Monday.
The Wizards opened a double-digit lead after just eight minutes. They led 19-9 after a 12-4 run. During the early run, 4 of 5 field goals were 3-pointers, including three straight. The Wizards led 38-22 after one quarter, four shy of the most points allowed by the Hawks in a quarter this season. The Wizards were 7 of 11 of 3-point range in the first quarter, accounting for half their field goals.
The Wizards pushed their lead to as many as 21 points in the first half as the Hawks never got closer than 11 points through two quarters. They took a 66-45 advantage into intermission. John Wall had 18 points and seven assists at the half.
“There is a lot of pride involved,” Elton Brand said of the Hawks’ early disadvantage. “We pride ourselves on our defense and for them to score 60-plus points in a half, that’s not what we are about. The offense will come and go. Defense is what we pride ourselves on. We really stepped it up.”
Mike Scott led the Hawks with 19 points, including three 3-pointers. John Jenkins added a season-high 17 points and Shelvin Mack and Dennis Schroder each finished with 14 points. Scott said he is returning to form after missing 11 games with a toe injury.
“I feel better but I still don’t feel like (my legs) are back to playoff or midseason game shape,” Scott said. “I’ve just got to sprint more and work a little harder.”
All five Wizards starters scored in double figures by the end of the third quarter. They led 80-55 after a Bradley Beal reverse dunk with 6:41 remaining in the period.
From that point on, the Hawks outscored the Wizards 44-18. The Wizards scored 24 and 18 points in the final two quarters, much more to the liking of the Hawks’ defensive mindset.
“Credit to Washington,” Budenholzer said. “They came out with a strong first quarter with 38 points and we weren’t able to recover from that. I think the second half, on both ends of the court, our guys did a lot of things that we can build on. We got it to nine. We had a couple of opportunities late. I was proud of the group the way they played in the second half.”
The Wizards (46-34) have won five of their past six games. Wall led them with a game-high 24 points and nine rebounds. He did commit 10 turnovers, more than half the Wizards’ total of 19.
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