Trae Young's Double-Double Leads Hawks Past Bradley Beal, Wizards on the Road
The Washington Wizards' forgettable season continued Monday with a 137-129 loss to Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks at Capital One Arena.
Washington is now 1-4 in its last five games and entered play 2.5 games out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. It was unable to take advantage of a favorable matchup despite solid showings from Bradley Beal (27 points, six assists and six rebounds), Trevor Ariza (25 points, five assists and four rebounds) and Jeff Green (26 points, five assists and five boards).
Nine Hawks scored in double figures in a balanced winning effort, including Young (10 points and 10 assists) and Taurean Prince (21 points).
It's Time to Tank in DC After Wizards' Latest Embarrassing Loss
The epitome of frustration that is the Wizards attempting to establish anything close to consistency was on full display at home against the lackluster Hawks.
Atlanta built a 19-point lead in the first half before Washington closed within four by intermission. The Hawks then scored the first eight points of the third quarter as they pushed the advantage back to 18 before the Wizards got within single digits by the fourth.
Fighting a losing battle against a rebuilding squad near the bottom of the standings is not how the 2018-19 campaign was supposed to go for a Washington franchise that made the playoffs in four of the last five years and brought back the John Wall-Bradley Beal combination in the backcourt.
The Eastern Conference was wide open after LeBron James departed for the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Wizards were postseason regulars and among the group expected to make a potential run come April and May.
Instead, Wall was lost for the season with a heel injury, new signee Dwight Howard has played just nine games, and November reports from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com, Candace Buckner of the Washington Post and Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium highlighted dysfunction that included Wall fighting with head coach Scott Brooks and altercations between players.
Following those reports, Washington traded Kelly Oubre and the potential that came with a 23-year-old who averaged double-figure scoring for the first time in his career last season. Rather than building on his 2017-18 showing as someone who appeared to turn a corner playing off Wall and Beal, he became another disappointing development of the 2018-19 campaign.
It's time to explore more trades (Otto Porter was previously linked to the Sacramento Kings) and embrace tanking for the future rather than fruitlessly battling for the No. 8 seed and the inevitable first-round playoff loss that comes with it. This team is lost on both ends of the court and ranks 24th in defensive rating and 17th in offensive rating, per NBA.com, and couldn't match up with the best the East has to offer.
The struggles at the bottom of the conference may seem like a saving grace in terms of the playoff race, but Washington is now closer to the league's worst record—the 10-41 New York Knicks—than a top-four seed following another loss.
The dream of the Wall, Beal and Howard trio leading the Wizards to a deep postseason run with the James obstacle no longer in the way is long gone, but the lottery represents a chance to reset with an eye on the future.
According to Tankathon, they had a 26.3 percent chance at a top-four selection entering play, which can improve with more losses down the stretch. A better than one-in-four shot at a potential franchise player in the draft is better odds than the disappointing Wizards sneaking into the playoffs and upsetting someone when they got there, and Monday's loss to the Hawks only served to underscore that reality.
It's time to fully tank.
What's Next?
The Hawks host the Toronto Raptors on Thursday, while the Wizards are at the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.
