Hawks surging as Wizards near record losing streak

The visiting Atlanta Hawks will look to make life worse for the hapless Washington Wizards on Tuesday night in NBA Cup action.

Atlanta has won seven of its last nine games and is 9-4 since star point guard Trae Young went down with a sprained MCL on Oct. 29. As Young nears the re-evaluation point of his recovery, Jalen Johnson has continued to assert himself as Atlanta's go-to player.

Johnson is averaging 22.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game. Most recently, the fifth-year forward nearly completed a triple-double with a 28-point, 11-assist, eight-rebound output in the Hawks' 113-110 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.

After he averaged 4.6 turnovers across his previous five outings, Johnson was flawless in that category against Charlotte, emblematic of his evolution as the Hawks' leader.

"His decision-making is a huge thing for us," Atlanta coach Quin Snyder said. "He's really taking pride in that. That and defending are two areas of the game where he's watching a lot of tape. He looks at those two things as areas that he can get better at."

Behind Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker adds an average of 19.3 points per game, while fellow first-year Hawks player Kristaps Porzingis has chipped in 18.4 ppg in 11 games while missing four of the past six contests because of an ailing knee.

Atlanta is 1-1 in NBA Cup play, while Washington is 0-2.

It's not just NBA Cup games that the Wizards are losing. Washington has become accustomed to coming up short in recent years, with this season serving as more of the same. The Wizards (1-15) are the only NBA team without a second win and are on a 14-game losing streak.

Washington is two defeats away from matching the franchise-record losing streak. The team dropped 16 straight from January-March 2024 before having a pair of 16-game skids from November-December 2024 and January 2025.

The Wizards squandered an opportunity to earn a rare win on Saturday, falling 121-120 to the Chicago Bulls after holding an eight-point, fourth-quarter lead.

Washington hasn't won since beating the Dallas Mavericks on Oct. 24, but Wizards coach Brian Keefe said he is seeing some semblance of life before his team hosts Atlanta.

"It's a group that's actually getting better," Keefe said. "We're seeing glimpses of how we want to play. ... Our pace and our ball movement, starting to establish an identity. We're not where we want to be, we can continue to work on it, but you're seeing examples of how we really want to play, and that was a great example (on Saturday)."

In a bright spot amid another forgettable season, Washington guard Corey Kispert became the fourth player in franchise history to make 600 3-pointers when he connected in the second quarter at Chicago. Bradley Beal, Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison also are in the 600 club.

"It's really cool any time you can be on a list with those guys," Kispert said. "I'm thankful for the longevity here with the Wizards. That's why I'm here. That's what I'm best at, and I plan on continuing to shoot a lot more."

Alex Sarr paces Washington with an average of 18.1 points a game, while Kyshawn George and CJ McCollum add 16.5 apiece.

--Field Level Media