With back-to-back victories on Wednesday night, the Atlanta Hawks can end the regular season on a high note before facing the struggling Washington Wizards.
Despite playing without Trae Young, Atlanta (40-39) defeated Chicago (123-105) to move above.500.
Young, the Hawks’ leading scorer and assister with 26.2 points per game, missed Tuesday’s game due to a non-COVID illness. The void was filled by Bogdan Bogdanovic, who scored 26 points on 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range.
For Atlanta, the current No. 1 team, Saddiq Bey had 18 points, and Dejounte Murray had 17 points and 9 assists. 8 seed has a spot in the play-in competition.
After a 132-130 overtime thriller against Dallas on Sunday, in which Murray scored 25 points and Young scored 24, the Hawks won on Tuesday.
Atlanta, which is two games behind Miami for the No. 1 spot, will begin its final three-game stretch of the regular season with Washington’s visit. 7 seed. No. is three games behind the Hawks. 6 Brooklyn, which involves the Eastern Gathering’s last ensured season finisher spot.
Atlanta will try to win its third straight game against the Wizards and its third overall. On March 8 and 10, the Hawks defeated the Wizards in Washington by scores of 122-120 and 114-107, respectively.
Young led the way in both contests with 28 points.
The Wizards (34-45), who have lost four of their last five games, including a 140-128 defeat on Tuesday at home to Milwaukee, which leads the Eastern Conference, contributed to their ongoing slide.
Washington’s rookie Johnny Davis scored 20 points, breaking his previous career high of 16 points set in Sunday’s loss to New York.
Davis scored two points with a stunning dunk over Bucks guard Jrue Holiday. Davis became the first Wizards rookie since John Wall in 2011 to score 20 points, pull down five rebounds, and block two shots in a game.
Kristaps Porzingis missed his third consecutive game, Bradley Beal missed his seventh consecutive game, and Kyle Kuzma missed his eighth consecutive game, so Davis was part of a new Washington starting five.
With all of Washington’s season-high scorers out of action, Corey Kispert has capitalized, scoring more than 20 points per game in the Wizards’ last six games. He scored 27 points against Orlando on Friday and 29 points against New York on Sunday, but he only scored 12 points on Tuesday.
