Feisty Hawks Stun Somnambulant Wizards 103-97

With All-Star point guard John Wall on the bench for the Wizards, the Atlanta Hawks came out with energy and were able to out-execute the home team down the stretch on the way to an improbable victory.

The Wizards seemingly imploded with costly turnovers, poor shot selection and multiple bricks down the stretch. Washington seemed sleepy from the opening tip, and even the game’s leading scorer, Bradley Beal with 33, seemed to take this game for granted due to the Hawks’ losing pedigree this season.

But these Hawks fought hard despite some adversity in the 4^th quarter. Atlanta had led by as many as 11 in the first half, but Beal’s scoring prowess was too much handle in the second half as the first-time All-Star scored 20 of his 33 in the final half – pushing the Wizards’ lead to a game-high 6 points with 5:28 remaining.

From that point on, the Hawks ratcheted up the intensity and outscored the Wizards 16 to 4 to close out the game – with Taurean Prince sealing the game late with 2 clutch buckets and a terrific pass to Dewayne Dedmon for the dagger dunk.

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It must be noted that Beal did not get much help on offense, as he accounted for almost a third of the team’s made field goals. The Wiz were only able to muster 40.2 percent shooting from the field and 9 of 25 from deep.

Only 2 players other than Beal scored in double figures, with Kelly Oubre doing it on an extremely inefficient 3 of 13 shooting night – including 0 of 6 from two-point range.

Not only were the Wizards without the talents of John Wall, but Markieff Morris was ejected after only playing 7 minutes after arguing with an official. Ever the hothead, Morris seemed nonplussed by the incident. That was probably a turning point in this game, however, as Morris always seems to be able to back up his smack talk with some solid games against the Hawks – something many other Wizards have been unable to do.

These teams have some feisty history and numerous playoff matchups in recent years, so it was nice for this young Hawks team to defeat Beal and the Wizards while Morris and Wall were forced to watch on as powerless viewers.

Despite the tanking implications – the Hawks creep ever closer to the pack with 23 wins, only 1 away from the Magic and Mavericks – this was an entertaining and enjoyable victory with many stellar individual performances from the Hawks’ players.

As discussed, Taurean Prince pretty much took over this game in the 4^th quarter for Atlanta – another great sign for a young player on a team that needs forceful playmakers. With Isaiah Taylor in foul trouble, Prince served as the primary ballhandler and he made good decision after good decision in the decisive final stretch of this tilt.

Though his outside shot wasn’t falling (going 1 of 7 from deep) The Prince That Was Promised affected this game in myriad other ways and finished with 23 points on 8 of 18 shooting with 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. He led the team in minutes with 34 but also fouled out (on a ticky-tack call after the game was in hand). Prince also hit all 6 of his free throws.

This was another strong game for Prince and had shades of his game-winning performance against the Suns. However, this winning performance was even more impressive, as the Wizards are a cut above in terms of team talent level than the lowly Suns.

Rookie John Collins had his fingerprints all over this game as well. In 30 minutes, Collins had 10 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 block. He also had two supremely savage dunks, both of which were two-handed tomahawks that were feasts for the eyes:

Here’s the other one — just for good measure:

https://twitter.com/ATLHawks/status/982397366585081856

Collins was able to beat Marcin Gortat off the dribble a few times, which was nice to see, and he seemed to have learned something after playing him earlier in the year a few times.

Like most of the team, Collins seemed pretty keyed up to play this one, as almost no Wizards player could match Collins’ tenacity on the offensive glass.

Lastly, rookie Tyler Dorsey had a banner game and finished with a career-high 22 points on an efficient 7 of 14 shooting (4 of 8 from deep). Dorsey also led the team in box plus/minus with a career-high +20.

https://twitter.com/ATLHawks/status/982417157219762176

The team hummed along beautifully with Dorsey either handling the ball or serving as an off-ball option, and his defense was quite active throughout. When Dorsey’s shot is falling, he definitely has a positive impact on games, and that was definitely the case on this night – he made the most of his possessions, and that’s all you can ask of the promising rookie sharpshooter.

DeAndre’ Bembry logged his second career start and looked pretty good in limited minutes, scoring 5 points in 16 minutes. He was certainly well-rested, as his defense was probably the best of anyone on the court for the Hawks, and he even blocked a Jodie Meeks jump shot.

Damion Lee, who Bembry replaced as a starter, had a strong game off the bench and also played quite a few of his minutes as the team’s primary ballhandler. Lee was one of 6 Hawks to score in double figures, and he finished with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists in 25 minutes – an effective game from the surprising rookie.

His combination of length, ballhandling and shooting make it clear that he deserves a shot in the NBA, so let’s hope it comes from Atlanta next season after a strong close to this season.

Dewayne Dedmon continues a strong run of games with his 6^th double-double in the past 10 games, finishing a do-everything game with 12 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assist, 1 steal, 1 block and a +13 BPM in 31 minutes, as well as this sweet dunk in traffic:

If anything, Dedmon has made himself some money this offseason as he will almost certainly opt out of the player option of his contract in order to obtain a big paycheck from a playoff contender. Any team could employ his skill set, especially with his newfound outside shot.

Mike Muscala had a quiet night, but he was extremely effective with limited touches. Musky finished with 7 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block and +6 BPM in 24 minutes, and he hit one of the biggest shots of the game in the 4^th quarter. Musky capped an 8-0 run with a huge corner three-pointer, similar to his amazing banked-in three against the Wizards in the playoffs in 2015 – still one of the defining moments of his career.

Muscala will most likely opt out of his contract as well, though the Hawks should try to retain him, as he seems to always hit big shots in big spots.

Next: Could the Hawks Trade for Kawhi Leonard?

The Hawks only have two games remaining, and their next bout is Sunday against the Boston Celtics at 1:00 p.m. EST.