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Hawks rip off 24-4 run to put away Wizards in Dwight's debut
Through three quarters, the 2016-17 NBA season opener between the Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards was a nip-and-tuck battle, a knock-down drag-out affair featuring 14 ties, 17 lead changes and plenty of dueling runs that left just one point separating the two clubs entering the fourth and final frame. Over a seven-minute span, though, the Hawks hit the gas and left the Wizards in the dust, offering hope for continued success despite major changes in the starting lineup.
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After a jumper by new Wizards big man Jason Smith gave Washington an 82-81 lead with 11:18 to go in regulation, the Hawks utterly dismantled Washington, ripping off a 24-4 run that turned a hard-fought contest into a laugher. Reserve guard Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 12 of his 21 points during the game-changing stretch, which saw the Hawks knock down 10 of 15 shots and force six Washington turnovers that led to 13 points, turning the tide and sending Atlanta rolling to a 114-99 win in their home opener.
All-Star forward Paul Millsap kickstarted the surge, drilling a pick-and-pop 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Atlanta an 84-82 lead it would never relinquish. From there, Hardaway — whom the New York Knicks traded to the Hawks as part of a three-team deal on the night of the 2015 NBA draft, and who struggled to find minutes and a role in his first season under coach Mike Budenholzer — ripped off three straight buckets, including a pair of triples, to push the lead to nine.
“It’s definitely a new page, a new start,” Hardaway said after the game, according to The Associated Press. “But [last season] will always be the intro to me in Atlanta. That will always be in the back of my head, how they pushed me, how they got me prepared to get to this point in my career.”
Millsap and Hardaway Jr. would each add another 3-ball in the next minute, both off feeds from veteran wing Thabo Sefolosha, to push the advantage to double figures and signal that the rout was on.
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Marquee free-agent acquisition Dwight Howard — the Atlanta native whom the Hawks handed a three-year, $70.5 million contract this summer to captain the defense, clean the glass and finish inside — earned his money in his debut for the hometown team.
He dominated on the interior in the early going, ripping down 15 rebounds in the first half alone. He’d finish with 19 boards, the most ever by a Hawk in his first game with the franchise, to go with 11 points, three blocks, two assists and a steal in 30 minutes of work, ably stepping in for the departed Al Horford on the interior while freeing Millsap to carry the offensive load to the tune of 28 points on 11-for-20 shooting, seven rebounds and six assists in 31 minutes. New starting point guard Dennis Schröder, who received a four-year, $70 million contract extension on the eve of his first season as Atlanta’s lead ball-handler, fought through some early-game sloppiness to chip in, too, finishing with 14 poins on 6-for-12 shooting with two rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes.
Howard’s presence inside paid immediate dividends. He retrieved seven of the Hawks’ 14 offensive boards, which led to 20 second-chance points. On the other end, despite pulling down 12 offensive rebounds of their own, the Wizards only mustered six second-chance points, thanks in part to the looming specter of the Hawks’ new interior stopper. (Backup big man Mike Muscala helped, too, adding three blocks of his own in 26 minutes off the bench.) And with Howard stationed along the back line, Atlanta’s perimeter defenders were emboldened to play more aggressive at the point of attack, helping produce 13 steals (five by Sefolosha alone) and create 19 turnovers to disrupt the Wizards’ offensive flow.
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The Hawks got on a roll to start the fourth quarter against a reserve-heavy Wizards lineup, but new coach Scott Brooks couldn’t stem the tide once he got his starters back in on a night where Washington’s top guns weren’t firing on all cylinders.
All-Star point guard John Wall played a strong floor game in the first half, impacted the proceedings with his defensive work, pace and playmaking, but he needed 15 shots to score 12 points and mitigated his 10 assists with five turnovers in 30 minutes. Shooting guard Bradley Beal added in 13 points on 50 percent shooting, but the sharpshooter only attempted two 3-pointers and missed them both, and battled foul trouble throughout the contest. Center Marcin Gortat repeatedly got muscled around by Howard, his former Orlando Magic teammate, turning in a quiet four points and 11 boards in 32 minutes.
Outside of a strong scoring night from power forward Markieff Morris (22 points on 9-for-18 shooting) and pockets of energy from Otto Porter Jr. and reserve Andrew Nicholson, the Wizards offered little to write home about, especially in a fourth-quarter swoon during which Washington at times looked all-too-eager to hit the showers.
“At the end of the day, we can’t control our offense,” Beal said. “We can control our defense and our effort. We just gave up the last quarter and a half.”
With Washington defenders routinely failing to close out on shooters and track off-ball cutters, and Millsap and Hardaway getting cranked up from long range, the Hawks had a recipe for breaking the game open and they did just that, sending the Wiz to a dispiriting defeat and the Philips Arena faithful home happy.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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