At the outset of an important weekend in the East, Paul Pierce and the Washington Wizards were feeling good.

On Friday night, the Wiz manhandled the Chicago Bulls, giving point guard John Wall his first victory against former MVP Derrick Rose, which moved Washington into second place in the Eastern Conference with a shot against the No. 1 Atlanta Hawks looming.

However, after a rough Sunday afternoon in ATL, that happy feeling quickly subsided.

Washington Wizards v Atlanta Hawks

The Wizards dominated Chicago (25-12) from start to finish, pulling out an easy 102-86 win in D.C. on Friday night to bump their win streak up to three games. Sunday afternoon, the tables were turned and then some, as the Hawks (29-8) ran the Wizards out of Atlanta with a 120-89 victory to drop Washington back to fourth place.

“We’re still getting better,” Paul said Sunday. “Tonight was definitely a step back. We’re a good home team, but in the playoffs and somewhere down the line, you’re going to have to beat a good team on the road. And that’s what we’re going to have to learn. Right now we haven’t been able to do that.”

Paul did a little bit of everything over the weekend. He put up seven points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal and a block in 29 minutes against the Bulls, then turned around and dropped 11 points, five rebounds and three assists in just 25 minutes against Atlanta

Despite solid numbers from The Truth and others, the Wizards couldn’t hang with the Hawks, who went 16-of-31 from three-point range en route to their eighth win in a row. Paul said after the game that it was the turnovers and sloppy play that doomed Washington on Sunday.

“I looked up at the end of the third and we were down 12, and I saw that we were shooting 55 percent and they were shooting 43 percent,” he said. “Usually when you see those types of numbers, teams shooting that high and teams shooting that low, we’re usually up by 10, 15 points. When you turn the ball over as many times as we did, and then they capitalize off our turnovers, we’re really just shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Washington Wizards v Atlanta Hawks

By the end of the game, the shooting percentages had leveled out some, but the turnovers never went in Washington’s favor. The Wizards outshot the Hawks (47.4 percent to 47.2), but Atlanta turned it over just nine times to Washington’s 20.

The Wizards made it close a few times, especially during a 26-11 run to end the first half and bring Washington to within five. No. 34 played a key role in that run, refusing to let a few misses deter him from his game.

The Wiz pulled within two points of Atlanta’s lead numerous times, but they simply couldn’t overcome their own sloppy play and timely threes by the Hawks. Even when Atlanta cooled off briefly, the Wizards couldn’t get over the hump. Paul, who played lockdown defense on Bulls forward Jimmy Butler two nights earlier, did everything he could to motivate his teammates, but the Wizards simply didn’t have their A-game for the matinee.

“That’s what makes them so good,” Paul said of the Hawks. “They cause turnovers, they get deflections, they stay within their principles, and they just wear on you. They keep coming offensively, they keep moving and shooting the ball. They had better discipline than us tonight.”

Chicago Bulls v Washington Wizards

Washington’s play on Sunday came in stark contrast to their performance against the Bulls, one of their fiercest rivals, earlier in the weekend, thanks in part to a hot start by The Truth.

It was yet another strong first quarter for No. 34, who knocked down two shots from deep in the opening minutes of the game. His torrid start helped Washington bull-rush Chicago out of the gate, and his teammates followed suit. Nene saw Paul’s seven points and raised him one, while Marcin Gortat added six points. As a team, the Wiz shot 52.2 percent in the first and set the tone for the rout by establishing a 30-13 lead after one.

Chicago Bulls v Washington Wizards

After the big men took control in the first, the D.C. guards chipped in during the second.

John Wall and Bradley Beal combined for 14 points, while Gortat added seven more, and the Wiz shot 57.1 percent to add another point to the cushion. With an 18-point lead at the break, the Wiz flipped on cruise control.

Behind Jimmy Butler and Rose, Chicago cut six points off the lead before the fourth, but Beal and Rasual Butler combined to go 5-of-9 with two three pointers in the final frame, and Paul and the D.C. defense locked down, holding Chicago to 35.3 percent shooting to ice the victory.

The win over the Bulls was extra satisfying for the Wizards as it avenged a 99-91 loss to Chicago in Washington on December 23rd.

NEXT UP

After taking care of the Bulls the second time around, Paul and the Wizards have another shot at redemption, this time against the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs (23-15) beat Washington 101-92 in San Antonio earlier this month and have won four of their last five games.

“Everybody has their difficult stretches,” The Truth said. “It’ll make us better. We have to be mentally tough after coming here and getting smacked. It doesn’t get any easier and we know that, we have to be mentally tough.”

A victory against the Spurs would be massive for the Wizards, who have lost four of their last seven games and are four games out of first place in the Eastern Conference. Standings implications aside, the win would be far more significant for Washington because the Spurs have won 17 consecutive games against them.

Tuesday’s game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET from the Verizon Center and will be shown nationally on NBA TV.

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