Wizards thump Hawks, 114-98

Bradley Beal scored 24 points while Jeff Green added 22 as the Washington Wizards pulled away late and defeated the visiting Atlanta Hawks 114-98 on Wednesday night. The Wizards took the lead with an 8-0 run midway through the fourth quarter and closed it out by scoring 12 of the game's final 14 points. Thomas Bryant (16 points, 15 rebounds) and Tomas Satoransky (14 points, 11 rebounds) both had double-doubles while Trevor Ariza (12 points) was the fifth Washington player to finish in double figures.

Alex Len, a 7-foot-1 center who played his college ball at nearby Maryland, came off the bench to post a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Hawks. John Collins added 21 points, while Kevin Huerter (12) and DeAndre' Bembry also scored in double figures. The Wizards have won two straight games since learning that guard John Wall will miss the remainder of the season due to surgery on his left heel.

Washington also played without Markieff Morris, who recently saw a specialist for neck pain. However, Otto Porter Jr. came back after sitting out 10 games due to a quadriceps strain and scored nine points. Washington led throughout much of the first quarter. The second quarter saw more of the same, as the Wizards pushed the margin to 64-53 at halftime. Another three from Beal early in the third quarter gave Washington a 73-59 lead, and the Wizards seemed ready to take charge.

However, Atlanta made a run, backed by Len, slicing the Washington lead to 88-84 after three quarters. Len scored eight points in that quarter alone as the Wizards found problems dealing with him all night long. In fact, his short jumper tied the game at 94 midway through the fourth quarter before Beal answered with a layup that gave the Wizards the lead and started the 8-0 run that gave them the lead for good. Beal and Green then added long three-pointers back-to-back that put Washington on top 102-94 with 5:03 remaining, as the Wizards pulled away. Atlanta scored only four points the rest of the way.