ATLANTA – After losing Caron Butler in the first half of play and watching a 10 point first quarter lead disappear into thin air early in the opening quarter, the Wizards fell behind against the Hawks, and were never able to recover.

 

Washington (1-1) was able to pull as close as seven points late in the game, but ultimately ended up falling 89-100 in front of 17,079 in Atlanta’s Phillips Arena.

The Wizards used a burst of offensive efficiency to pull out to a quick lead.  Arenas looked to be setting up for a big evening early, at one point dizzying Hawks forward Josh Smith with a crossover and draining a quick pull-up jumper over the empty space where Smith once been, and his Wizards team mates followed suit.  By the time Atlanta called a timeout to try to slow Washington’s offensive attack, the Wizards’ were in the midst of a 12-0 run that earned them a 15-5 lead.   

The Hawks never moved away from their gameplan of attacking the basket and eventually things started to work their way.  Hawks guard Mike Bibby orchestrated an offensive push for Atlanta, finding open team mates and setting not-so-open team mates up for easy looks at the basket.  When the Hawks weren’t hitting shots, the officiating staff was more than willing to blow the whistle as long as they continued to attack the basket.  Atlanta finished the game having made nearly double the amount of free throws as the Wizards on twelve more attempts.

Washington could have helped themselves more had they not fueled Atlanta’s offense by turning over the basketball ten times in the first half or converting on higher than 63.6 percent of their own free throw attempts over the course of the contest.  The Wizards were able to convert on a higher percentage of their shots from the floor (44 percent to 41 percent for Atlanta) than their counterparts, but the Hawks provided themselves with additional opportunities by controlling the offensive glass and earning their trips to the line.

Four of Atlanta’s starters registered double digit scoring totals and the frontcourt trio of Al Horford, Josh Smith and Marvin Williams combined to score 40 points, haul in 29 of the team’s 36 rebounds, and block five shots.  With both Butler and Jamison sidelined and foul trouble working to further diminish coach Flip Saunders’ front court options, there was little Washington could do to effectively slow the trio.

The backcourt duo of Gilbert Arenas and Randy Foye, who torched the Mavericks to the tune of 40 points and ten assists had trouble finding their range and combined to convert on just twelve of 34 attempts from the floor.  Arenas finished with 20 points and four assists, but he also committed seven turnovers and hit on just two of his four free throw attempts in what ended as a forgettable night for the entire rotation of Wizards guards.  Starter Mike Miller picked up fouls too quickly to make an impact on either end.  In relief, Nick Young and Deshawn Stevenson combined to hit just one of nine attempts (Stevenson converted his only attempt from the floor while Young went 0-for-8).

If there were any positives to take from the contest it was the continued exceptional play from reserve power forward Andray Blatche.  Blatche scored 13 points, finishing as one of only three Wizards to score in double figures, and pulled down six rebounds in 34 minutes of play and was one of the team’s brighter spots on the defensive end as well.

With the win, Atlanta has defeated Washington in the last five straight meetings between the teams.  The Wizards return to the District Saturday to face the New Jersey Nets in the home opener at the Verizon Center.