Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks dribbles against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on March 01, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images/AFP
De’Andre Hunter matched his season-high with 26 points and Trae Young scored 25 to lead the visiting Atlanta Hawks to a 117-114 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday.
With the win, Atlanta stretched its lead over Washington for one of the final playoff spots to 2 1/2 games. The Hawks have won two of three games against the Wizards this season.
Dre having so much fun 😃 pic.twitter.com/gX6Z4e7PXU
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 5, 2022
There was drama at the end. Washington cut Atlanta’s once 11-point fourth-quarter lead to one when Raul Neto made a 3-pointer with 5.3 seconds left. The Hawks inbounded the ball into the backcourt and the Wizards fouled Young, who made two free throws with 3.7 seconds.
Washington, which had no timeouts left, settled for a desperation 3-pointer from Kyle Kuzma, which missed.
Hunter was 8 for 12 from the floor, including three 3s, and Young was 10 for 11 from the line with eight assists. Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 17 points.
Washington’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 28 and was 6 for 6 on 3s. Kuzma added 22 points and 11 assists, and Rui Hachimura scored 19.
Atlanta has swept two consecutive back-to-backs and three this season.
Atlanta got off to a 33-25 lead in the first quarter as Hunter scored 11 points and the Hawks shot 54.5 percent from the field. The Hawks — who had only one turnover in the first half — expanded their lead to as many as 14 in the second quarter. They held a 68-59 lead at halftime, but Washington’s Deni Avdija hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Washington cut the lead the one point when Thomas Bryant’s bucket made it 82-81, but Atlanta outscored the Wizards 11-3 the rest of the quarter — including Bogdanovic’s 3 at the buzzer — and began the fourth quarter with a 93-84 lead.
Welcome back @jcollins20_ ! pic.twitter.com/rVk0stbSBr
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 5, 2022
Atlanta got John Collins back from a six-game absence because of a foot injury, and he had nine points and six rebounds off the bench. The Hawks were without Onyeka Okongwu (concussion protocol) for the second straight night.
The Hawks play again Monday at Detroit, the middle game of a three-game road trip. Washington wraps up a three-game homestand on Sunday against Indiana.