The Atlanta Hawks appeared to be dead in the water before unleashing a furious fourth quarter rally for the second day in a row this time knocking off the Washington Wizards 95-92.
Joe Johnson's three pointer with 46 seconds remaining gave Atlanta its first lead since the first quarter. After a couple of Johnson free throws, John Wall missed a game tying attempt sealing the victory for the Hawks. Atlanta trailed by as many as 15 points in the third quarter before making their run in the fourth.
Josh Smith turned in another solid effort with 20 points and nine rebounds. Joe Johnson finished with 16 points, five boards and three assists. Zaza Pachulia added 13 points on 5-6 shooting and Kirk Hinrich added 10. Jeff Teague finished with nine points and nine assists on the night.
Atlanta's bench played a key role in the comeback cutting the lead down to just four points in the fourth quarter before both Josh Smith and Joe Johnson checked back in. Marvin Williams led the guys off the bench with 13 points while Vladimir Radmanovic added six in his return to action. Ivan Johnson scored five points and grabbed six rebounds in 18 minutes of action.
For the Wizards, Nene scored 14 of his 21 points in the first half and also finished with 11 rebounds. Jordan Crawford added 20 on 9-19 shooting. Former D-League standout Edwin Ubiles chipped in 10 points off the bench. John Wall finished with eight points and three assists but was just 1-10 from the field.
The Hawks win the first two games on their final back-to-back-to-back set of the season. The Utah Jazz will make their only visit of the season to Philips Arena on Sunday.
For more on this game Hawks fans should check out Peachtree Hoops and Wizards fans should stop by Bullets Forever. For more news and analysis from around the NBA head over to SB Nation's NBA Basketball page.