Corey Kispert and CJ McCollum took it to their old team on Thursday, combining for 58 points to help the Atlanta Hawks roll to a 126-96 win over the visiting Washington Wizards.
The duo, obtained in the trade that sent Trae Young to the Wizards last month, sparked Atlanta to its second wire-to-wire victory over Washington in the past three days and its third win in a row overall. The Wizards have lost three straight.
Kispert had career highs with 33 points and 11 field goals, including six 3-pointers. McCollum scored 25 points, shooting 9-for-19. They each scored 22 points in the first half.
Atlanta also got 17 points and nine rebounds from Jonathan Kuminga, 13 points, 11 assists and five steals from Dyson Daniels, and 10 points and 11 rebounds from Onyeka Okongwu.
The Hawks were playing without a pair of starters. Jalen Johnson, the team’s leading scorer, was out with a left hip flexor injury, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, the team’s No. 2 scorer, was sidelined due to a left ankle sprain. Both injuries occurred in the Tuesday game against Washington and are not expected to be long-term issues.
Washington was led by Tre Johnson, Will Riley, Justin Hardy and Justin Champagnie with 14 points each.
The Wizards were without leading scorer Alex Sarr, who missed his sixth game with a right hamstring strain, and second-leading scorer Kyshawn George, out because of a left knee contusion.
The Hawks scored the first nine points of the game and soon built a 12-point lead. The Wizards managed to close the gap to 20-18, but Atlanta led 37-26 after one quarter.
McCollum and Kispert each had a pair of treys in the second quarter, when Atlanta outscored Washington 39-30 and took a 76-56 lead into the break. The Hawks ended the second period on a 9-2 run.
Washington got as close as 12 with 3:22 left in the third quarter on a layup from Anthony Gill, only to have the Hawks outscore them 10-4 and take a 98-80 lead in the final quarter.
Atlanta won the season series 3-1.
–Field Level Media
