Twenty turnovers fueled a dismal offensive night. The Hawks capitalized, leaving the Wizards struggling to find any rhythm.
The Wizards turned the ball over 20 times in an abysmal offensive showing, leading to a 119-98 trouncing from the Atlanta Hawks. Washington looked out of sorts offensively all night, and their starting lineup combined for just 35 points.
The Hawks broke out to a 7-0 lead just minutes into the game thanks to careless play by the Wizards.
The Wizards turned the ball over five times in their first five possessions, leading to all seven of the Hawks’ points, prompting a quick timeout from Brian Keefe.
Out of the timeout, Bilal Coulibaly picked up where he left off, using his recent aggressive play style to get buckets at the rim.
Washington continued to fall behind early through poor offensive play. Atlanta got plenty of looks in transition after bad offensive possessions and poor shot selection. Keefe called another timeout after a frustrating 14-3 Atlanta run.
The Wizard shot 38% from the field in the first quarter and went down by 15 by the end.
Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson left the game with a hip injury in the second quarter, but Washington hadn’t done much to chip into the league. Atlanta had a field day in transition, as the defense getting back proved too slow.
Washington eclipsed more turnovers than attempts from three at one point once they hit the 11 mark in the first half. It was ugly offensive play.
The backcourt of Tre Johnson and Bub Carrington both failed to score any field goals in the first half, shooting a combined 0-11.
The Wizards scored only 43 first-half points and trailed by 17 at the break.
The Hawks kept their foot on the gas in the second half and continued to rain in wide-open looks. The Wizards had no answer on either end. The lead grew to as much as 32 by the halfway mark in the third quarter.
Despite Coulibaly reaching four blocks for the game in the third quarter, Atlanta’s lead kept growing rapidly.
Washington did not score 25 points in any of the first three quarters. Washington finally broke that streak in the fourth, but it was with the game ridiculously out of reach.
Carrington scored his first and only field goal of the game in the fourth quarter, then was subbed out for the remainder of the night. His struggles in February have been apparent. He's shot under 37% from the field and under 28% from three.
Will Riley and Jamir Watkins had solid games overall, the only real bright spots for the Wizards. Riley scored a team-high 18 points on 7-8 shooting.