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The Atlanta Hawks fought all the way to the end but suffer their fifth consecutive loss with a 104-100 setback to the Washington Wizards.
The Hawks turned in a competitive effort against the Wizards and set the tone early in the first quarter. Atlanta led by as many as 12 in the first before Washington rallied at the end of the period to close to 20-16 at the horn.
Atlanta pushed the lead back to nine in the second thanks in large to Tim Hardaway Jr. who scored 10 of his 29 points in the period. Once again, the Wizards closed the gap late but the Hawks led 46-40 at the intermission.
After going scoreless in the first half, John Wall began to establish himself in the third. Washington outscored Atlanta 27-21 with Wall accounting for 12 in the quarter.
The Wizards pushed the lead to as many as 12 in the fourth before Atlanta made a charge at the end. Hardaway connected on a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 101-98 with 10.6 remaining. Bradley Beal connected on 1 of 2 at the other end to make it a four point game before Dennis Schröder turned it over on Atlanta’s next possession. Wall then sealed it with a pair of free throws to give Washington the win.
Hardaway came up big for Atlanta finishing with 29 points on an efficient 9 of 16 shooting. He was 8 for 9 from the free throw line. Free throws in general kept Atlanta in it as the Hawks connected on 24 of 29 attempts in the game.
Dennis Schröder finished with 18 while Dwight Howard added 14 points and 16 rebounds. Schröder struggled with turnovers throughout and finished the game with 10 of Atlanta’s 16 total. Beal led Washington with 28 points while all 22 of Wall’s came in the second half.
Atlanta drops to 37-34 on the season and are now five back of the Raptors who are fourth in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks maintain their one-game lead over the Pacers thanks to Indiana’s loss to the Celtics on Wednesday.
Atlanta will wrap up its three-game road trip on Friday with a trip to Milwaukee to face the Bucks.