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Magical Pixels, Wizards vs. Hawks: Washington keeps finding ways to lose

The Washington Wizards didn't give up when they found themselves down 15 in the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Hawks, but in typical fashion, the team couldn't hold on after taking a lead in the final minute of regulation, and ended up losing on a buzzer beater in overtime.

By Jeff Newman
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Wizards haven't been able to finish games all season, and fans are now accustomed to seeing the team surrender big leads down the stretch. But it was a different story last night against the Atlanta Hawks, as the Wizards battled back from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to take the lead in the final minute, only to lose it on two clutch free throws from game-MVP Al Horford, and then fall 101-99 in overtime on a buzzer-beating Horford jumper.

The late rally was only required because of how listless Washington had been the previous three-plus quarters. John Wall started the game 1-for-10 from the field before leading the comeback almost single-handedly, scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter. But with the game tied and final chance to win the game in regulation, rather than running a play, Wall opted to dribble out the clock and chuck up a fadeaway jumper, which predictably airballed.

Getting a second-straight start for an injured Nene, Trevor Booker was a beast, scoring 24 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, both team-highs. But the Wizards missed Nene's savvy defensively, as Booker and Marcin Gortat had no answer for Horford, who finished with 34 points and 15 rebounds, both game-highs.

Washington is not on a three-game skid, all three losses coming on a combined seven points, and the last two coming in overtime. This team is finding ways to lose games right now, and it's not about to get any easier with the Los Angeles Clippers coming to town Saturday.

KEY LINKS

Home team recaps: BF StoryStream | Washington Post (gamer, sidebar)  | AP | CSN Washington (recap, sidebar) | Wiz of Awes | Wizards.com | Monumental Network

Road team recaps: Peachtree Hoops | Atlanta Journal-Constitution (gamer, sidebar) | ATL All Day

Game highlights

Postgame interviews: Randy Wittman | John Wall | Trevor Booker | Marcin Gortat | Otto Porter

KEY STATS

14 - Washington's rebounding advantage against Atlanta. Six Wizards have six or more rebounds.

5 - combined three-point attempts by Martell Webster and Trevor Ariza against the Hawks, who kept Washington's best shooters in check. Let's hope future opponents didn't notice Atlanta's gameplan.

TWEETS OF THE NIGHT

VIDEO/GIF OF THE NIGHT

This seems cruel, but whenever there's a buzzer-beating game winner, it's the only option.

Now, if you'd like to feel better, just remember, all them toys. (H/T @Truth_About_It)

GAMETHREAD COMMENT OF THE NIGHT

GAMETHREAD ROLLCALL

# Commenter # Comments
1 Wall_Hopeful 105
2 _Chris 101
3 DCrez 70
4 Big Purp 68
5 Baird15 59
6 KurisuDevil 46
7 Durant 38
8 Big Spoon 35
9 thewiz06 34
10 Rice2012 30
11 neualex308 27
12 Banode 26
13 daca 17
14 LRJ 17
15 xxrdotxx 17
16 richkam14 15
17 WASwizardsfan671 14
18 ATrueNigerian 13
19 jazzy1 11
20 K-Bro 10
21 SladeKillah 9
22 WinstonCharles 8
23 qthaballa 8
24 jobe 8
25 Rhamm21 8
26 17squall 8
27 Yeti60 7
28 Mandark 7
29 HSLex 6
30 gregjohnson1229 6
31 cheezit 5
32 abdou77 5
33 John Wall Stan 5
34 KappakidToo 5
35 BackScreenLob 4
36 hotplate 4
37 HijackedD 3
38 mattiesafer 3
39 Dutch Hoopfan 3
40 WindyRindy 3
41 abovelegit 3
42 Chethonia 3
43 DCPerspective 3
44 jontydeans 2
45 LeHalfrican 2
46 DCnhokies 2
47 FreckleFace 2
48 ZonkerBL 2
49 wad0cash 2
50 WizforLife 2
51 Alpha_Snail 1
52 YoungBoris 1
53 johnwallposterizes 1
54 wesnile 1
55 All dc and unc 1
56 JimmyWall 1
57 Moonwalk Jenkins 1
58 bullet101 1
59 khrabb 1
60 Shawn-Paul Muth 1

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