Last night was a night to forget for the Atlanta Hawks.
Atlanta was a massive favorite and looking for their third straight win, but the Washington Wizards, losers of 14 straight and the owners of the worst record in the NBA, had different plans. CJ McCollum turned back the clock and scored 46 points while shooting 10-13 from three, Alex Sarr had 27 points and 11 rebounds, and Corey Kispert had 19 point. It was without a doubt the worst performance of the season for the Hawks and the question now is what this means. Was this just a hot shooting performance from the worst team in the NBA or was there something deeper going on with the Hawks?
Cause for concern?
Nov 25, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards guard CJ McCollum (3) drives to the basket as Atlanta Hawks forward Asa Newell (14) defends in the second half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
The Hawks defense has had moments of looking like one of the league’s best with Trae Young sidelined, but they have had some really bad games in the past couple of weeks. They gave up 122 points to Utah, 135 to San Antonio, and last night, they nearly gave up 140 points to the Wizards. Allowing McCollum to have the kind of night that he did is inexcusable.
This also was a tough schedule spot for the Hawks. It was the 10th straight game after which they get on a plane, 3rd game in 4 nights in 3 cities, and 17th game in last 31 days.
This was a horrible schedule spot for the Hawks:
10th straight game after which they get on a plane.
3rd game in 4 nights in 3 cities.
17th game in last 31 days.
— Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) November 26, 2025
This was also another tough game for Kristaps Porzingis on the defensive end. Yes, he led the Hawks in scoring and was able to use his size effectively on that end of the floor, but he has struggled to guard in space on the defensive end. It is not just one game though and the Hawks might want to think about moving him to come off the bench and start Onyeka Okongwu, who has been the better of the two bigs this season.
Tonight is Hawks 19th game of the season.
Porzingis has started 12 of them.
Hawks have trailed by double-digits in 1Q six times this season.
All six in games started by Porzingis.
— Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) November 26, 2025
Now on Sunday against the Hornets, Hawks guard Dyson Daniels had his best offensive game of the season, scoring 22 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and dishing out six assists. Last night though, the offensive struggles returned for Daniels, who has not played well on that end of the court this season. He scored 11 points on 5-11 shooting last night.
The Hawks are also missing Trae Young, who could be back soon. I think this performance showed some issues that have been plaguing the Hawks this season and they are going to have to figure some things out, especially when it comes to Porzingis and Daniels, who have just simply not been good enough for the Hawks this season.
However, I don’t think the sky is falling, even though this was a horrible performance against the league’s worst team. The Wizards had an unbelievable shooting night that they are almost certainly not going to replicate at any other point this season. The sky is not falling for the Hawks, but there are some glaring issues that they are going to have to address even with Young possibly nearing a return.
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