The Philippine Online Chronicles

The Atlanta Hawks have followed up their four consecutive wins with back-to-back losses so that Joe Johnson and company definitely knew that they had to bring their “A” game when they visited Washington, D.C. to face the Wizards. With the Boston Celtics starting to falter, Atlanta now has a chance to get to the third playoff spot in the Eastern Conference to evade the league-leading Cleveland Cavaliers until the Conference Finals.

Jamal Crawford saw the situation and heard the message loud and clear. Crawford scored 29 points off the bench on four three-point shots. In a game that was close almost the entire way, Atlanta used their offensive superiority to overcome the Washington Wizards 105-99. The game was originally scheduled back on February 6 but the game had to be cancelled due to a blizzard that was affecting the Northeast. Atlanta is now leading the season series against Washington, 3-0, with the final game scheduled to be played on April 10.

Crawford scored 12 points towards the end of the third quarter to create some distance between the two teams. In an interview with ESPN, teammate Al Horford said that Crawford “just comes in and changes the game.” From a game tied at 66 apiece, Crawford was able to hit two big triples to put Atlanta ahead for good. He is currently one of the front runners to win the Sixth Man of the Year Award, having averaged 17.5 points per game for his eleventh season in the league.

Horford finished the game with 18 points and 5 rebounds. Joe Johnson had an all around game – 18 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

Atlanta’s game wasn’t perfect though. They were outrebounded by the Wizards, 42-29, and the Hawks only made 15 of 25 from their shots from the free throw line. The Wizards made 20 of 22 attempts from the line. What did the Wizards in was their inefficiency. Washington committed 20 turnovers – compared to 14 for the Hawks --- and only made 1 of 13 shots from behind the arc.

Washington was led by Andray Blatche who has become the number one option for the Wizards since the management chose to part with Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler in separate trade deadline deals. Blatche scored 30 points on 12 of 19 shooting while pulling down 10 boards. However, he was also responsible for seven turnovers. He has been throwing the ball away an average of 5.3 times in the past three games.

JaVale McGee played extended minutes and scored 20 points and hauled down 9 boards.

Atlanta now holds the third spot in the Eastern Conference standings with a win-loss record of 41-23. The Hawks are now half a game ahead of the Boston Celtics. They still have 18 games to play, with an equal number of games to be played at home and on the road. One concern that Atlanta might have is that they have lost all five games that they’ve played against either the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Orlando Magic.

Washington is at 21 wins and 41 losses. They have 20 games left to play but are over 10 games behind the team holding the last playoff spot. Suspended guard Gilbert Arenas recently submitted documents that would allow him to use the number 6 when he returns to action next season. The player known as “Agent Zero” was involved in a highly controversial gun-related incident last year.

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