Corey Kispert and CJ McCollum dominated on Thursday night with the Washington Wizards falling, 126-96, against the Atlanta Hawks.
After being dominated in game one against the Atlanta Hawks, the Washington Wizards fell flat on the road once again, this time in a 126-96 defeat on Thursday night as Atlanta takes three of the four matchups this season.
A pair of former Wizards did the most damage after Corey Kispert finished with a career-high 33 points on 11-of-19 shooting, including 6-of-11 from three, in just 28 minutes while CJ McCollum added 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting in 26 minutes.
Tre Johnson, Will Riley, Justin Champagnie and Jaden Hardy all finished with 14 points each while Riley added ten rebounds to set a new career high and register his first double double in the NBA. Riley also served as the team's leading scorer in Tuesday night's loss after finishing with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting in just 29 minutes.
Tristan Vukcevic and Anthony Gill both added 11 points with Vukcevic doing so in 11 minutes compared to 31 for Gill.
The Wizards opened ice cold from the floor after going nearly five minutes without a made shot, then Tre Johnson and Tristan Vukcevic proceeded to hit back-to-back threes to narrow a 12-2 early deficit that forced head coach Brian Keefe to call timeout.
But Washington would narrow the gap to trail by just two in the closing minutes of the first quarter, but that would only mean the start of the onslaught courtesy of a pair of former Wizards was ahead.
Corey Kispert and CJ McCollum combined for 44 points at halftime while shooting a combined 16-of-23 from the field and 7-of-12 from three. Kispert himself opened with 19 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting with five from three, quickly pitting the Wizards back in a double digit deficit.
That run continued into the third quarter, including a highlight for Kispert after notching a chase down block against Justin Champagnie midway through with the Hawks ahead by 15.
That deficit ballooned through the final quarter en route to an eventual 30 point loss on the road.
But Tre Johnson did manage to flash despite the loss, including a thundering dunk in the closing minutes of the second quarter.
After losing three consecutive home games and falling to 16-42 overall, the Wizards will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 28 against the Toronto Raptors. It marks the rubber match in the season series after the Raptors won at home in late November before the Wizards won by 21 points at home after Christmas Day.
The pair of road losses also came with Trae Young still inactive after head coach Brian Keefe noted the veteran is expected to ramp up his on court activities once the team returns to DC.