Atlanta @ Washington preview
Capital One Arena
Last Meeting ( Nov 1, 2023 ) Washington 121, Atlanta 130
The Washington Wizards will return home for the second leg of a weekend back-to-back, looking to snap an eight-game losing streak when they host the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.
Washington continued its skid with a 131-128 loss Friday in an NBA in-season tournament matchup at Milwaukee.
Four Wizards scored at least 20 points: Jordan Poole with a team-high 26, Kyle Kuzma and Tyus Jones each with 22, and Corey Kispert with 20 off the bench, but it wasn't enough to end a losing streak that began on Nov. 10.
Kispert was 6 of 10 from 3-point range. It was his first game with multiple made attempts from deep since he went 3 of 7 on Nov. 15 vs. Dallas.
For Kuzma and Poole, Friday was their second time in as many games both surpassing 20 points -- Poole with 24 on Wednesday at Charlotte, and Kuzma with a near-triple-double of 28 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Friday was also Washington's second straight loss of just three points.
"One of our old coaches, Ryan Richman, used to call what we did tonight telling on ourselves," Kispert told The Washington Post following Friday's loss. "We've proven we can play like that, so it's up to us to kind of make that the standard."
The Wizards played Friday without rookie Bilal Coulibaly, who scored in double figures in five of Washington's seven outings before the team played at Milwaukee. He was scratched from the lineup on Friday due a knee injury.
Atlanta snapped a three-game skid with its most recent game, outlasting Brooklyn on Wednesday, 147-145 in overtime.
Coming on the heels of a 157-152 loss Tuesday vs. Indiana -- the NBA's highest combined score in regulation since 1995 -- Atlanta has produced two of the 11-highest scoring games in franchise history over its past two outings.
The recent outburst contributes to the Hawks boasting the NBA's second-highest scoring average at 124.1 points per game. Trae Young is averaging 26 points per game after performances of 38 points vs. the Pacers and 43 vs. the Nets.
"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," Young said in Wednesday's post-game press conference.
In addition to his team-leading scoring output, Young is second in the NBA in assists with an average of 10.7 per game. He joins Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton as the only players in the league averaging double-figure assists per game this season.
Young's distribution contributes to Atlanta's offensive balance, with seven Hawks in total averaging in double-figures scoring. Dejounte Murray's 21.6 points per game are second on the team, and Jalen Johnson is averaging 14.6 points a night on 59 percent shooting from the floor.
The Hawks are clicking offensively but are seeking solutions on defense. After allowing 145 points to Brooklyn, Atlanta is allowing 122.6 points per game -- more than all but three other teams through Thursday.
"We still gave up a lot of points. We can definitely learn from this win," Young said.
The Wizards rank No. 29 in scoring defense, giving up 124.3 points per game.
--Field Level Media