The Atlanta Hawks continue their five-game homestand on Tuesday with the first game of a back-to-back series against the Washington Wizards.
The Hawks are coming off a 115-104 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. Atlanta erased an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to collect the much-needed win and remain in ninth place in the Eastern Conference.
The Wizards had their two-game winning streak broken on Sunday when they lost 129-112 to the Charlotte Hornets.
Many Atlanta fans had the two-game series with Washington marked as the return of Trae Young, who was traded to the Wizards before the trade deadline. Young spent the first seven-plus seasons of his career as the face of the Hawks, but he remains sidelined with an MCL sprain in his right knee and has not played since Dec. 27.
The Wizards said last week that Young and Anthony Davis, also acquired at the deadline, are not quite ready to return. Washington announced on Thursday that Young would miss at least one more week and that Davis, out with ligament damage in his left hand, will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
“You just follow the process. That’s what we always do,” Washington coach Brian Keefe said.
The Hawks are trying to follow a process, too. They added CJ McCollum, Corey Kispert, Jock Landale, Gabe Vincent, Buddy Hield and Jonathan Kuminga ahead of the trade deadline. Only two players remain from the roster that coach Quin Snyder inherited when he took the job in 2023, leaving the team with the ongoing task of finding the right formula.
McCollum moved into the starting lineup on Sunday, and Kispert and Landale have become important bench pieces. The Hawks are still waiting for Kuminga to return from a left knee bone bruise.
“It’s part of development,” Snyder said. “Part of that is evaluating the mix between playing and working. The competition that you’re involved in at a high level is able to show you the things that you need to work on, but we want to win, make no mistake about that, and everybody’s got to contribute at the level that they’re capable of right now.”
Meanwhile, the Wizards continue to lean on their youngsters until Young and Davis return. Second-year players Bub Carrington (10.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists), Kyshawn George (14.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists) and Tre Johnson (12.8 points) all played in the Rising Stars Game during All-Star Weekend, and Alex Sarr was on the first-team All-Rookie player last season.
The game will also showcase the top two picks from the 2024 NBA Draft. Atlanta’s Zaccharie Risacher was the No. 1 pick and Sarr was No. 2. Sarr averages a team-leading 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 41 games, while Risacher averages 10.3 points and 3.5 rebounds.
Risacher has struggled since missing 11 games with a left knee bone contusion. In the nine games since his return, Risacher is averaging 6.8 points and 4.2 rebounds. He was replaced in the starting lineup by McCollum on Sunday.
This will be the third meeting between the two clubs. They split the first two games, both in Washington. The Wizards will remain in town and play Atlanta again on Thursday.
–Field Level Media
