Washington hosts Atlanta before hitting the road

November 29, 12:28 PMWashington Wizards ExaminerGeorge Panagakos

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If Washington wants a win tonight, they will have to stop
Mike Bibby (right) first (AP Photo/John Amis).

Ten days prior, the Washington Wizards gave up an 8-0 run to the Atlanta Hawks at the end of the fourth, resulting in a 91-87 road loss.  With a new head coach in Ed Tapscott, and a home-court advantage, Washington will look to redeem themselves on the defensive end tonight, for example, guarding Mike Bibby.

Bibby dropped 15 points in the third quarter, and finished the game with 25 on 12-for-22 shooting.  To make matters worse for Washington, Al Horford is back, too.  With all of that offensive fire power, the Wizards are going to need to step it up on the defensive end tonight.

The Hawks are off a 93-88 loss to the Toronto Raptors, led by Chris Bosh, who seems to be on a MVP kind of year.  The Wizards are off their Thanksgiving loss to the Orlando Magic, from a game in which their bench did not particularly get the job done. 

Toronto has shown Washington how to beat opponents before, and in the case of their Friday victory over Atlanta, they didn't win rebounds, or free throws, but kept their turnovers lower than the Hawks and got a lot more help from their bench than the Hawks could muster. 

If Washington hopes to win tonight, they will once again have to rely on their bench points, and when you look at their last performance, that also means Nick Young being more judicial with the ball.  No fancy, forced moves to split defenders, or make a highlight reel.

Washington will host Atlanta tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, and the game will be featured on Comcast SportsNet.

Also, the NBAStore is currently having a 20% off Post-Thanksgiving sale that will run until tomorrow night.  To get the sale, you will need to enter "NBATGIVING" at checkout.  For more great holiday ideas, check out the Washington Wizards Holiday Guide.