The Washington Wizards will host the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night in the second part of a weekend back-to-back, with the goal of ending an eight-game losing run. Friday’s 131-128 loss to Milwaukee in an NBA mid-season tournament contest extended Washington’s losing streak.Even though Jordan Poole had a team-high 26 points, Kyle Kuzma and Tyus Jones both scored 22, and Corey Kispert scored 20 points off the bench, the Wizards’ inability to break a losing skid that started on November 10 persisted.
Kispert’s 3-point percentage was 6 out of 10. It was the first time he had made several deep shots in a game since he had only made 3 of 7 against Dallas on November 15. Both Kuzma and Poole had scored more than 20 points on Friday for the second time in as many games. Poole had scored 24 points at Charlotte on Wednesday, while Kuzma had nearly triple-doubled with 28 points, 10 assists, and 9 rebounds on Friday. Washington also dropped its second consecutive game by a just three points on Friday.
After the loss on Friday, Kispert told The Washington Post, “One of our old coaches, Ryan Richman, used to call what we did tonight telling on ourselves.” “We’ve proven we can play like that, so it’s up to us to kind of make that the standard.” Prior to the team’s game against Milwaukee on Friday, Bilal Coulibaly, a rookie, scored in double digits in five of Washington’s seven games. Due to a knee ailment, he was left out of the starting lineup on Friday. With its most recent victory, Atlanta ended a three-game losing streak, defeating Brooklyn 147-145 in overtime on Wednesday.
After suffering a 157-152 defeat to Indiana on Tuesday, which was the NBA’s highest combined score in regulation since 1995, Atlanta has played two of its last two games with the 11 highest scoring totals in the team’s history. With 124.1 points per game, the Hawks have the second-highest scoring average in the NBA thanks in part to their recent outburst. After scoring 38 points against the Pacers and 43 against the Nets, Trae Young is now averaging 26 points per game.
During the post-game news conference on Wednesday, Young stated, “I definitely always try to make shots for my teammates, and they’ve been falling down these last couple of games a little bit more.” Apart from being the team’s top scorer, Young also leads the NBA in assists, averaging 10.7 per game. He and Tyrese Haliburton of Indiana are the only players in the league who have averaged more than ten assists per game this year.
Atlanta’s offensive balance is enhanced by Young’s distribution, as seven Hawks in all average double-digit points per game. Jalen Johnson is averaging 14.6 points per game on 59 percent shooting from the field, while Dejounte Murray leads the club in scoring with 21.6 points per game.
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