Atlanta Hawks surging as Washington Wizards near record NBA losing streak
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Washington Wizards guard Bub Carrington shoots against Chicago Bulls forward Jalen Smith during the second half at United Center.
PHOTO: IMAGN IMAGES VIA REUTERS CONNECT
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON – The Atlanta Hawks will look to make life worse for hosts Washington Wizards on Nov 25 (Nov 26 morning in Singapore) in NBA Cup action.
Atlanta have won seven of their last nine games and are 9-4 since star point guard Trae Young went down with a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) on Oct 29.
As he nears the re-evaluation point of his recovery, Jalen Johnson has continued to assert himself as Atlanta’s go-to player.
Johnson is averaging 22.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game.
After he averaged 4.6 turnovers in his previous five outings, Johnson was flawless in that category against Charlotte, a 113-110 win, emblematic of his evolution as the Hawks’ leader.
“His decision-making is a huge thing for us,” Atlanta coach Quin Snyder said. “He’s really taking pride in that. That and defending are two areas of the game where he’s watching a lot of tape.
“He looks at those two things as areas that he can get better at.”
Atlanta are 1-1 in NBA Cup play, while Washington are 0-2.
It is not just NBA Cup games that the Wizards are losing. Washington have become accustomed to coming up short in recent years, with this season serving as more of the same.
The Wizards (1-15) are the only NBA team without a second win and are on a 14-game losing streak.
They are two defeats away from matching the franchise-record losing streak. They dropped 16 straight from January-March 2024, before a pair of 16-game skids from November-December 2024 and January 2025.
The Wizards squandered an opportunity to earn a rare win on Nov 22, falling 121-120 to the Chicago Bulls after holding an eight-point, fourth-quarter lead.
Washington have not won since beating the Dallas Mavericks on Oct 24, but coach Brian Keefe said he is seeing some semblance of life before they host Atlanta.
“It’s a group that’s actually getting better,” he said. “We’re seeing glimpses of how we want to play.
“Our pace and our ball movement, starting to establish an identity.
“We’re not where we want to be, we can continue to work on it, but you’re seeing examples of how we really want to play, and that was a great example (on Nov 22).”
In a bright spot amid another forgettable season, Washington guard Corey Kispert became the fourth player in franchise history to make 600 three-pointers when he connected in the second quarter at Chicago.
Bradley Beal, Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison also are in the 600 club. REUTERS
