Wizards fall in Atlanta despite 33 from Kyshawn George

The Washington Wizards couldn't hold off the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday, dropping a 139-132 decision at State Farm Arena and sliding to 4-5 on the season.

Kyshawn George gave Washington everything he had. Thirty-three points, a running dunk off a Trae Young feed, free throws when the team needed stops. It wasn't enough. Atlanta was simply too much, led by Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who finished with 28 points and got going early with a 25-foot three and a putback in the first quarter alone.

Dyson Daniels ran the Hawks offense from the jump. He finished with 12 assists, connecting with Alexander-Walker repeatedly and finding Kingston Flemings for a dunk and a 25-foot three. When Daniels was moving the ball, Atlanta looked impossible to slow down.

Washington had its own playmaker in Young, who posted 10 assists. He set up Alex Sarr for a layup and found George for that dunk, but the Wizards kept giving Atlanta clean looks on the other end. Deandre Ayton grabbed 11 rebounds and scored on a tip shot, but his work on the glass couldn't paper over the defensive lapses that let the Hawks hit 139.

Onyeka Okongwu was a problem all night for Washington inside. He finished with 10 rebounds and scored on an alley-oop dunk off a Daniels pass, then added a turnaround jumper that pushed Atlanta's lead. AJ Dybantsa chipped in with a running layup in the first quarter as the Hawks built what became an insurmountable cushion.

George's 33 points came on a night when Washington needed a full team effort and didn't get one. Luguentz Dort hit a 23-foot three off a Daniels pass to extend the Atlanta advantage, and by then the Wizards were chasing a deficit they never quite closed.

Atlanta improved to 6-4. Washington heads home having dropped five of its first nine games, with George's big night the most concrete thing to take away from the Georgia trip.