Trae Young racked up game highs of 40 points and 13 assists to help lead the visiting Atlanta Hawks to a 130-126 victory over the Washington Wizards on Sunday.
Dejounte Murray added 32 points for the Hawks, who snapped a four-game losing streak. Jalen Johnson tallied 24 points and 13 rebounds, while Clint Capela had 11 points and 17 rebounds for Atlanta.
Kyle Kuzma paced the Wizards with 38 points on 15-for-31 shooting from the field, including seven 3-pointers, and Deni Avdija added 17 points and 12 rebounds in Washington’s fourth loss in its last five games. Corey Kispert also had 15 points and Tyus Jones added 14 in the loss.
Facing a 12-point deficit at the half, Washington cut the Atlanta lead to just two on Jordan Poole’s floater with 4:52 remaining in the third quarter.
The Wizards’ scoring run was answered with a Murray-led offensive onslaught. Murray scored 10 points in a two-minute span at the end of the quarter to push Atlanta’s lead to 100-87 after three quarters.
The opposing fans were wowed by Young, as the Atlanta point guard faked a behind-the-back pass, drove through the lane and threw in a teardrop floater to give the Hawks a 116-105 lead with 4:08 remaining.
A triple by Murray beat the shot clock on the ensuing Atlanta possession to give the Hawks a 14-point lead, before holding off a late Washington rally en route to the victory.
In the first half, the Wizards jumped out to a 17-4 lead at the 7:41 mark of the first quarter before a dunk by Johnson punctuated a 24-10 run that gave the Hawks the lead. Avdija beat the first-quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer for a 30-28 Washington edge.
Johnson then scored 11 of his 18 first-half points in the second quarter to help guide Atlanta to a 70-58 lead at the half. Young joined Johnson with 18 first-half points, while Murray poured in 15 in the opening half. Kuzma was Washington’s only double-digit scorer in the first half, tallying 20 points.
Atlanta improved to 3-0 against its Southeast Division rivals this season, and the two teams meet again Jan. 13 in Atlanta.
–Field Level Media