Jan 11, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Kent Bazemore (24) drives past Washington Wizards forward Otto Porter Jr. (22) in the fourth quarter at Philips Arena. The Hawks defeated the Wizards 120-89.
Jan 11, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Kent Bazemore (24) drives past Washington Wizards forward Otto Porter Jr. (22) in the fourth quarter at Philips Arena. The Hawks defeated the Wizards 120-89. REUTERS

The Atlanta Hawks continues to solidify its claim as a championship contender as it trounced one of the Eastern Conference's top teams in the Washington Wizards, 120-94. The victory is the 8th consecutive win of the club and is the worst margin of loss for the Wizards in the season.

For Washington, the loss is a weird one as the team from the capital shot better than their opponents, shooting 55% to the Hawks' 45%.Turnovers due to sloppy ball handling did the Wizards in as the Hawks capitalized on the 19 Wizards miscues, converting those to 20 points. The Eastern Conference-leading Hawks added an eye-popping 14 steals that resulted to 13 more shots for the winning team. Drizzle in the usual barrage of 16 made three pointers on just 31 attempts, and you get the blowout for the "Spurs of the East."

Veteran forward Paul Pierce conveys that the team has to buck the trend of losing to East bigwigs somewhere down the road to solidify its status is one of the best teams in the conference. The former Boston Celtics great and NBA champion that they will have to learn to win against a good team on the road, a must come playoff time.

"In the playoffs, somewhere down the line, you're going to have to beat a good team on the road," Pierce said via the Washington Post. "That's what we're going to have to learn to do. Right now we haven't been able to do that."

Point guard and potential all-star John Wall was the main culprit of the turnovers with 8 to his name while Marcin Gortat had 3 while Bradley Beal accumulated 2 turnovers. Coach Randy Whittman explained that the miscues led to a lot of scrambling on the defensive end which was to the advantage of the free-wheeling Hawks. The Hawks continued its patented balanced attack with 8 players in double figures with sharp shooter Kyle Korver leading the way with 19 markers. The Wizards were able to cut the lead to 5 by the middle of the third quarter but the Hawks recovered with its own 13-2 run and never looked back.

The Hawks will try to extend their winning streak to 9 when they visit the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday while the Wizards will try to get back on the winning track after snapping a three-game winning streak when it hosts San Antonio Tuesday.

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