The picture is an AI-generated illustration, not a photograph from the match
Atlanta opened a 16-point lead inside two quarters and never surrendered it again, winning 120-105 in the capital behind six three-pointers from Nickeil Alexander-Walker and a double-double from Onyeka Okongwu.
Six triples after a career night on Monday
Fresh from nine made threes on Monday night, Nickeil Alexander-Walker added six more in the capital and finished with a game-high 26 points.
Johnson missed his second consecutive game with a sprained left ankle, which pushed more minutes onto the bench unit and gave Kingston Flemings and Zuby Ejiofor bigger roles than their season averages suggest.
Onyeka Okongwu contributed 14 points and 16 rebounds, while CJ McCollum and Aaron Wiggins scored 15 points each to cover the absence of All-Star forward Jalen Johnson.
The game broke open on a 13-0 run that began at the first-quarter buzzer: Asa Newell's tip-in, two transition baskets from Ejiofor and a Flemings runner inside ninety seconds.
Atlanta's quarter scores of 37 and 31 produced a 68-point first half, and the game-high lead of 16 was built before the break.
The player Atlanta got back in the trade
Young's step-back three cut the deficit to 83-79 with a quarter still to play, the closest Washington came after the second-quarter collapse.
Anthony Davis had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards and Kyshawn George added 25, but the trio could not stop a third quarter that yielded only 24 points.
Corey Kispert, acquired with the trade that sent Young away, hit a four-point play immediately afterwards, and the game never got closer than six points again.
Washington conceded 52 points after the break while scoring 44 of its own, and the lead never came back inside six points once Kispert answered Young.
Washington sit at 4-4 with a 2-2 record at home, and the last twelve minutes produced only 20 points after a 29-point second quarter that had briefly kept the building interested.
Friday in Atlanta, and the bigger picture
Friday brings the second half of the back-to-back series to Atlanta, with NBA Cup group standings on the line before either side has had a full week to fix what it got wrong here.
Beyond that, Atlanta will want the second game without needing six three-pointers from one guard again, particularly if Johnson's ankle keeps him out of the rotation.
Nothing about this result is fatal for either side after nine games, but the Hawks have played two straight games without their best forward and still found a way to win both, which is the more encouraging data point of the week.
For Washington the pattern is becoming familiar: competitive for a quarter, short for three, and a roster still organised around a player who is not on it any more.
The margin, in the end, was the second quarter: a 13-0 stretch and 31 points, against 29 before the break and 20 after it.
Editor's take: Six three-pointers from Alexander-Walker after nine on Monday suggests a player shooting with full conviction, which is worth more in November than a season average.
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