Beal's 28 help Wiz beat Hawks 95-92; Wall to sit at Orlando

By HOWARD FENDRICH

WASHINGTON (AP) With John Wall sitting out the second game of a back-to-back on Saturday night, part of an effort to ease the All-Star point guard's return from offseason surgery on each knee, the Washington Wizards will be counting on Bradley Beal to lead them.

Beal just wants to make sure he doesn't try to do too much in Wall's absence.

What the Wizards and Beal would love to see is the same sort of go-to-the-basket style he displayed while scoring 20 of his 28 points after halftime Friday night, helping Washington give new coach Scott Brooks his first victory with the team, 95-92 over the Atlanta Hawks.

The key Saturday at the Orlando Magic, Beal said, will be for him to "not feel like I've got to take over and do everything."

Beal averaged only 14 points during Washington's 0-3 start, never getting more than 15, and Brooks said before facing Atlanta he considered that his fault for not giving his young shooting guard enough opportunities.

"He's going to have a breakout game sooner or later," Brooks said, nearly 2 hours before tipoff. "Hopefully it's tonight."

How prescient.

Before an announced crowd of only 14,663 - nearly 5,000 fewer people than were at Wednesday's home opener against Toronto - Beal made 13 of 14 free throws.

"He was attacking," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "He's such a great shooter that you have to take that away. He may have just been more aggressive at getting to the rim."

Atlanta cut the deficit to 95-92 and inbounded the ball after a timeout with 11.7 seconds left, but Kyle Korver missed a 3-point try with 3.6 seconds left with Markieff Morris in his face.

Wall had 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, now just four assists shy of breaking Hall of Fame center Wes Unseld's franchise career mark.

But that will have to wait until at least Monday, when Washington hosts the Houston Rockets.

"Part of his rehab plan was to be real cognizant of his minutes," Brooks said. "He might not play in the first few" second games of back-to-back nights, the coach added, explaining: "That's all fluid."

Brooks deflected a question about whether rookie Tomas Satoransky would start Saturday in Wall's place, but did say, "There's a good chance."

Wall said he'll spend his day off doing some of the same rehab work he did during the offseason and joked about the game at Orlando: "I might be the head coach."

"It's just something I have to do if I want to play a long career in this league," Wall said. "Coach believes in me and my teammates understand what I have to go through. When I'm out there, I'm going to give 110 percent effort."

TIP-INS

Hawks: Korver finished 1 for 9 from the field, including 1 for 6 on 3s. ... Atlanta has at least 10 steals in every game this season.

Wizards: Wall's streak of 16 consecutive games with at least 10 assists, dating to last season, ended. It was the longest active such run in the league.

SLOW START

Atlanta missed its first nine shots and shot only 29 percent from the field in the first half - including just 2 of 15 on 3-point attempts. It trailed 48-35 at halftime. "There will be times where the ball feels like soap," Paul Millsap said. "There will be times when there's a lid on the basket."

WHAT'S IN RESERVE?

Atlanta's reserves outscored Washington's 33-8. The Wizards' bench players wound up with the exact same number of points and personal fouls.

UP NEXT

Hawks: Host the Houston Rockets on Saturday.

Wizards: Travel to face Orlando on Saturday.

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