The Atlanta Hawks sure as heck figured out a way to halt a 12 game winning streak over the Washington Wizards. Just plain embarrassing.
Andray Blatche had 23 points, and seven boards and John Wall added 19 to lead the Wizards to a 115-83 demolition of a shorthanded Hawks team.
It was the fourth 30-plus point loss by Atlanta this season. They looked terrible and couldn't handle a young, energetic Wizards team that outhustled the Hawks all night long.
The Hawks lost the battle of the boards 48-33. They committed 23 terrible turnovers and looked more like the team that belonged in the bottom of the Eastern Conference as opposed to the No. 5 seed in the East.
Yes, the game was meaningless with Atlanta's playoff seeding secured. And the game really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. But it should matter to professional basketball players. Instead, it seemed like some of the Hawks thought it was OK just to show up.
One exception was Al Horford, who netted 21 points and 10 rebounds in the contest. Joe Johnson had 16 and Jamal Crawford added 13 for the Hawks.
But Atlanta didn't get much a contribution from Kirk Hinrich, who had three points and five assists on 1-for-5 shooting from the field in his return against his former team. The other guy acquired by Atlanta - center Hilton Armstrong - had a bucket in this one. But Hinrich and Armstrong finished a combined -30 when they were on the court.
The Hawks shipped to Washington on the other hand played a little bit better. Maurice Evans netted 10 points and Jordan Crawford added six. Six is a low number for Jordan Crawford, who entered this one averaging 22 over his last 14 games.
Yi Jianlian added 15 points and Othyus Jeffers had 13 for Washington, which defeated Atlanta in our Nation's Capital for the first time since 2007.