ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Larry Hughes and the Washington Wizards needed a game like this.
Hughes scored a season-high 26 points as the Wizards snapped a four-game losing streak with a 106-97 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
On Saturday, Hughes and the Wizards endured a rough night in a 95-71 home setback to the San Antonio Spurs. Hughes had 10 points in the first quarter but drew a costly technical and subsequently was ejected as the Wizards lost control of the contest in the second quarter.
In this one, Hughes helped the Wizards rebound from their most lopsided loss under first-year coach Eddie Jordan. He shot 8-of-17 and grabbed nine rebounds.
"He had fresh legs because he didn't play much the last game because he was ejected," Washington forward Kwame Brown said. "Larry can score. He's doing a grat job coming out and looking to score."
Washington's Gilbert Arenas continued his strong start with 22 points.
"(Jordan) gave us a good talking to at halftime and that wasn't so good, but it did help us because we came out stronger because he was really mad," Arenas said. "We had to get this win because the pressure was building up. We had lost four straight, so we had to come out and fight for this one."
Washington overcame its 39 percent (32-of-82) shooting by scoring 31 points off 23 Atlanta turnovers. The Wizards shot 48 percent (10-of-21) in the fourth quarter and used a decisive 16-2 run to open a 92-80 advantage with just under four minutes remaining.
Hughes scored just two points during the burst, but hustled to a loose ball and found rookie Jarvis Hayes for an uncontested 3-pointer that gave the Wizards an 80-78 lead with 7:03 remaining.
"That's the name of the game, you can call it a fluke or just something that happens," Jordan said. "It wasn't a play, it was a broken situation and he knocked it down."
"The Hawks got a tip and I think Larry got a loose ball and threw it to me in the corner," said Hayes, who played two years at Georgia and overcame a 1-of-8 start to score 14 points. "I can't hesitate and I was so wide open, I had to take it."
The Hawks took a 78-76 lead on Jacque Vaughn's jumper with 7:56 remaining but had just one basket in the next five-plus minutes as Washington pulled away.
"There no way we should have lost that game," said Atlanta guard Jason Terry, who scored 25 points. "That was a close game. Everyone needed to have a sense of urgency. We know what we've got to do to win games and we didn't do it tonight."
