The Atlanta Hawks (3-2) hosted the Washington Wizards Wednesday night and by the end of the night were as prepared as they would ever be for a road trip. During the 130-121 victory the Hawks’ had seven players score 10 or more points. Following the game Hawks head coach Quin Snyder said of the victory and current three-game win streak, “We lost the first two and we’ve won a few in a row now. The sky wasn’t falling when we lost two and we don’t need to be congratulating ourselves if we win three. This is a long haul.”
Early in the second quarter Atlanta fell behind by 7 points following a strong start from Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma (25 points) and guard Jordan Poole (13 points) who combined for 29 points at halftime. However there wasn’t a player on the court as hot as Hawks guard Dejounte Murray, who scored six consecutive points to give Atlanta a lead that would ultimately extend to 59-51 at the half.
Atlanta opened the second half with a 11-5 run that was capped by a Murray jumper that put the Hawks up 70-56. The Hawks would eventually have their largest lead of the game (23) following a windmill dunk by Murray off of a steal at the four minute mark. Murray finished the game with a team-high 24 points. Trae Young, who scored 23 points on 7-18 shooting, said of the balance scoring, “It’s been like that a lot lately,” he said. “I like when everybody eats. It’s great for us.”
On the road again
The Hawks will begin the first road trip of the season with its only game in New Orleans Saturday, Nov. 4. During the preseason the two teams met at Gateway Center Arena last month for the first NBA game in the arena’s history. Following a travel day Atlanta moves on to Oklahoma City where they will play the Thunder Monday, Nov. 6 and then south to Orlando to play the Magic for the first time this season.
Winning ways
Atlanta came into the game against the Wizards on a two-game win streak following victories at Milwaukee (127-110) and at home against Minnesota (127-113). The Hawks will return home to State Farm Arena to play the Miami Heat Saturday, Nov. 11.