After a rare win at home against the Washington Wizards, let’s take a look at some rapid reactions to this nice Atlanta victory.
The Atlanta Hawks actually won a game at home – besting the sleepwalking Washington Wizards by a final margin of 118 to 110.
The Hawks jumped all over the Wizards in the first quarter by bounding out to a 12-0 lead to start the game and never really letting up, though the Wiz did briefly take a 4-point lead in the 3rd quarter (the team’s only lead of the game). Atlanta outscored Washington 35-24 in the 1st quarter and 36-28 in the 4th quarter. That final spurt of the game ended up being the final margin.
In Trevor Ariza’s first game with the Wizards, the former Rocket and Sun put up stellar numbers: 19 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals and 4 assists in 38 minutes, but it wasn’t enough to beat a balanced scoring attack from the Hawks, led by a seeming return to Linsanity by Jeremy Lin.
Lin was perhaps the most notable factor in closing the door on this game, as he scored 12 of his 16 points in the 4th quarter and even crossed up Tomas Satoransky for a sweet-looking midrange jumper in the 4th:
We're currently re-living the whole Linsanity thing. Folks inside State Farm Arena have approved greatly. pic.twitter.com/i5gTqXEYoy
— Bally Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnBally) December 19, 2018
Lin finished with 16 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds in 23 minutes. His fellow point guard Trae Young also had a strong game.
Ice Trae finished with 19 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 1 steal in 26 minutes, but most importantly, his three-ball was falling as he finished 3 of 6 from distance, looking comfortable on most of his outside shots.
Elsewhere among the starters, Kevin Huerter played a team-high 36 minutes – expending terrific energy on defense and canning a couple clutch triples late to help seal this one. Red Pepper finished with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.
Dewayne Dedmon (13 points/10 rebounds) and John Collins (20 points/13 rebounds) both finished with double-doubles, and Kent Bazemore logged a typical do-everything stat line: 13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks.
Despite the Atlanta Hawks likely playing for draft position, this was a fine game to lose after the Cavs snuck away with a win vs. the Pacers on a last-second tip-in. Sometimes your tanking team wins a game, and you know what? It feels pretty good.
The Hawks play next on Friday, December 21 against the New York Knicks.