Hawks at Wizards
The Atlanta Hawks have clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs but should have something to play for when they wrap up the regular season at the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. The Hawks can do no worse than the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference but they can still finish third, which might allow them to avoid the first-place Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round, if they get that far.
The Cavaliers have defeated Atlanta seven straight times - including a sweep in the Eastern Conference finals last spring - after Monday's 109-94 victory in Cleveland. "They are tough at home. They a have some really good basketball players," Hawks guard Kyle Korver told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Obviously, (LeBron James) had an amazing shooting night. (Kyrie Irving) did, too. Those guys are capable of doing that. I think that team goes on a lot of runs, not just against us." The Hawks enter the final day of the regular season tied with Miami, which owns the tiebreaker between the two teams, and a game ahead of Boston and Charlotte, likely first-round opponents. The Wizards are playing out the string with All-Star point guard John Wall (knee) on the sidelines, but have a chance to finish at .500 with a win.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Atlanta), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
ABOUT THE HAWKS (48-33): Regardless of where Atlanta finishes, its floor general appears primed for the postseason, as Jeff Teague has produced at least 20 points in five straight games. The streak is one shy of his career high and he is shooting 51.2 percent - including 11-of-23 from 3-point range - in the hot stretch. Teague's last single-digit scoring effort came March 23 against Washington, but Dennis Schroder (23 points) led a big showing by the bench as the Hawks picked up a 122-101 win, just their second in the last seven meetings.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (40-41): Washington is 3-1 since Wall took a seat, including two wins over Brooklyn in which they've scored at least 120 points. Seven players scored in double figures and the Wizards produced 100 points through the first three quarters - including the game's first 20 - in Monday's 120-111 defeat of the Nets. Ramon Sessions and Marcus Thornton combined for 40 points in replacing Wall and injured shooting guard Bradley Beal (pelvis) in the starting lineup.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Atlanta SF Kent Bazemore is averaging 22 points and three steals in two games since returning from a knee injury.
2. Wizards SF Otto Porter Jr. is averaging 16.7 points and has made 6-of-14 3-pointers in three meetings with the Hawks this season.
3. Hawks PF Paul Millsap has 16 blocked shots in the last four games.