The Wizards already defeated the Hawks at home last week. Let’s see if it can happen again on the road.
Wow for W: 5 wins in 6 games.
Wow for W: Wes Unseld, Jr. has shown he can coach.
Wow for W: Westbrook is gone and “role” players show they can do the job.
The Wizards are wowing everybody right now. True, many of the wins are very close ones, and the sample size might be too small, but hey – it’s the best start to a Wizards season in years.
Tomorrow, the Wizards meet the Hawks in Atlanta for the second time in just 4 days for a rematch after having easily beat them here in DC last week.
Game info
When: : Monday, November 1, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA
How to watch: NBC Sports Washington Plus
How to listen: The Team 980 AM, 106.7-2 FM
Injury Report
Wizards: Anthony Gill, Rui Hachimura, Cassius Winston, Thomas Bryant (Out), Daniel Gafford (Day-To-Day)
Hawks: None.
Pregame notes
No Gafford, no problem — Against the Celtics last night, the Wizards’ DAWG of the Week — Montrezl Harrell came to the rescue. He did eventually foul out in the second overtime, but his presence on D and ability to draw key fouls and hit free throws in the clutch was crucial. True, Robert Williams was injured for the Celtics, but given that Atlanta does not have a very dominant center, the Wizards should be alright in that matchup at least.
Another slow start to the season for Bertans — Bertans’ performance down the stretch in the overtime against the Celtics’ was weird. He had a dumb foul pushing for an offensive rebound that nearly cost the game, and Head Coach Wes Unseld, Jr. subbed him out as he got little production from Bertans in the clutch. Deni Avdija came in for him and gave some solid defense and rebounding. The $80 million man is continuing to disappoint so far.
Iso, iso, iso — It seems that after five years of Brooks’ education, Bradley Beal simply defaults to iso mode in clutch minutes. The Wizards scored only 6 points in each OT session as they defaulted to hero-balling again and again. And with Beal’s tired legs that didn’t look so great. The win mostly came due to a lot of effort on D and bad decisions by the Celtics.
Flashback: Wizards easily beat the Hawks a couple days ago
Wasn’t hard last time, mainly since Trae Young had a so-so game. Here are the highlights from Thursday: