Hawks Rally To Victory Over Wizards

April 12, 1998 / 9:57 PM EDT / CBS/AP

The Atlanta Hawks came back from an 11-point deficit in the final quarter and left the troubled Washington Wizards on the brink of elimination from the playoff race.

Hitting from the outside, Eldridge Recasner and Mookie Blaylock outscored the entire Wizards team 18-10 in the final period Sunday as the Hawks won 91-81 to move a half-game behind fourth-place Charlotte in the Eastern Conference.

"All their big guys were dropping back in the lane to protect the drive, and all our guards can shoot the ball," said Recasner, who has made 23 of his last 35 3-point attempts. "We got some really good looks in the fourth, and that got us over the hump."

Recasner came off the bench to score 10 of his 17 points in the final period, and Blaylock had eight of his 16. Steve Smith finished with 18 for the Hawks, who held the Wizards to two points over the final 6:33 to win for the fifth time in seven games.

"I told the team to keep playing and there would be no way that Washington could beat us," coach Lenny Wilkens said. "What's critical for us is to keep playing well. I don't like the way we started tonight, but we got better."

While Atlanta is gathering momentum for a playoff race, Washington is all but out of contention. The Wizards are 0-3 since Chris Webber and Juwan Howard were named in a sexual assualt complaint, with two of those games coming after Rod Strickland suffered a season-ending leg injury.

Starting in place of Strickland, Chris Whitney had seven turnovers and got tired fighting screens in the fourth quarter. Rookie God Shammgod failed to score in 10 minutes off the bench.

"At least we're back to basketball. I think that's important," said coach Bernie Bickerstaff, relieved that fervor over the police investigation has subsided somewhat over the last two days. "This group of players, I can't find any fault with them tonight. That's probably about as good as we can do as a basketball team with the young kid and Chris in the backcourt."

The Wizards, chasing New Jersey for the final playoff spot, could be mathematically eliminated Tuesday night when they play the New York Knicks, something Webber didn't want to consider.

"I didn't even hear that question," Webber said. "I don't want to hear that question."

Unlike Thursday's blowout loss to Detroit, the Wizards displayed basics such as spirit and teamwork for three quarters, using a balanced attack and trapping defense to build a 58-44 lead in the third quarter.

But it all fell apart in the fourth, when Webber went 1-for-8 and Howard only took one shot.

"We were just going out there having fun in the first half. We let everybody talk us out of having fun. It's OK when guys like (Hawks center Dikembe) Mutombo jabs hifinger," said Webber, who did his own finger wave after blocking Mutombo's shot in the first quarter. "So you know, I've just got to be myself. I don't really care anymore about the opinion of people. I just have to be myself."

And what happened in the fourth?

"It's just the way it went," Webber said. "I don't have an explanation for it. ... I think a lot of times we need to stop concentrating on what we did wrong and instead on what the other team did right. This game was all about mismatches, and soemtimes you can control the game through mismatches."

Webber led Washington with 19 points. Howard had 16.

The Hawks survived an off-day from several of their stars. Mutombo was 2-for-9 and Christian Laettner went 1-for-6. Blaylock was 3-for-9 after three quarters.

But Recasner was hot. Just as it appeared the Hawks were fading, he made two 3-pointers and Blaylock made one on three consecutive possessions to cut a 10-point deficit to 75-74 with 8:31 to play. It was part of a 15-2 run that gave the Hawks their first lead since the second quarter.

With the score tied 81-81, Blaylock hit a pair of 16-footers to give the Hawks the lead for good. Calbert Cheaney's baseline runner with 4:03 to go was the Wizards' last basket.

"The effort was good," Bickerstaff said. "We just didn't sustain it."

Notes: Ben Wallace started at center for the Wizards in place of Terry Davis, who has a sore knee and ankle. ... Wizards forward Harvey Grant missed the game with a sprained ankle. ... The Hawks swept this season's four games against the Wizards. Atlanta and Indiana are the only two teams Washington didn't beat this season. ... The Wizards' Tracy Murray missed his first free throw of the game, ending his streak of 31 consecutive free throws made. ... Although the game was a sellout, the MCI Center was about three-quarters full. ... The Hawks made just 3 of 14 field goals in the first quarter, but made up for it by sinking 14 of 18 free throws.