FILE–Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images/AFP
Trae Young scored 28 points and De’Andre Hunter scored five of his 15 points in the final 67 seconds to help the visiting Atlanta Hawks erase a 15-point second-half deficit and beat the Washington Wizards 122-120 on Wednesday.
Hunter’s three-point play with 1:07 left put Atlanta ahead to stay and his two free throws with 18.3 seconds remaining gave the Hawks the advantage they needed to break their two-game losing streak.
The Wizards were led by Kristaps Porzingis, who scored a season-high 43 points on 17-of-22 shooting and seven 3-pointers, with five rebounds and five assists. Washington has dropped three of its last four games.
The season series is tied at one game each. The teams will play again on Friday in Washington and complete the season series April 5 in Atlanta.
Trae Young in the Hawks W:
28 points
4 rebounds
10 assists
3 steals
79% FG pic.twitter.com/1PPDtbeEct— NBA (@NBA) March 9, 2023
The victory allowed Atlanta to put some distance between itself and the Wizards in the Eastern Conference standings. The Hawks remain in the No. 8 position and lead No. 10 Washington by two games.
Young was 11-for-14 shooting with three 3-pointers, 10 assists and three steals. Dejounte Murray scored 17 points, John Collins and Bogdan Bogdanovic each scored 14 and Clint Capela had 13 points.
The Hawks extended their streak of scoring 100-plus points to 41 games, the third-longest such streak in franchise history.
Washington also got 25 points, 10 rebounds and six assists from Kyle Kuzma and received 24 points and eight assists from Bradley Beal. But Beal missed a crucial free throw with 52.7 seconds left and traveled following a timeout, which allowed Atlanta to extend its lead to five points.
The Hawks led by as many as nine points (14-5) in the first half, but had seven turnovers and could not slow Porzingis, who scored 22 points in the first half. Washington took its first lead at 49-47 and enjoyed a 61-58 advantage at halftime. Young had 15 points at halftime for Atlanta.