WASHINGTON -- Bradley Beal scored 20 of his 28 points after halftime, and the Washington Wizards finally gave new coach Scott Brooks his first victory with the team by beating the Atlanta Hawks 95-92 on Friday night.Beal averaged only 14 points during Washingtons 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.Hes going to have a breakout game sooner or later, Brooks said, nearly 2 hours before tipoff. Hopefully its tonight.How prescient.Before an announced crowd of only 14,663 -- nearly 5,000 fewer people than were at Wednesdays home opener against Toronto -- an aggressive Beal made 13 of 14 free throw attempts and hit three 3-pointers. One came with about 4 minutes left and pushed the Wizards lead back up to 89-82 after the Hawks had pulled within two points.Atlanta cut the deficit to 95-92 and inbounded the ball after a timeout with 11.7 seconds left, but Kyle Korver air-balled a 3-point try with 3.6 seconds left with Markieff Morris in his face. Korver finished 1 for 9 from the field, including 1 for 6 on 3s.This was already the teams second meeting of the young season. Atlanta beat Washington by 15 points on Oct. 27.Both clubs were playing on the first of back-to-back nights, but they often looked as if they were on the second part of that schedule during an uneven game. Atlanta, in particular, sleepwalked through much of the evening, missing its first nine shots and winding up shooting 39 percent.Dwight Howard led the Hawks with 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Dennis Schroder also scored 20.John Wall had 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for Washington. He is four assists shy of breaking Hall of Fame center Wes Unselds franchise career mark.Morris added 18 points and nine rebounds for the Wizards, who led by as many as 16 points in the third quarter before letting the Hawks get back into the game.The Hawks shot only 29 percent from the field in the first half -- including just 2 of 15 on 3-point attempts, 13 percent -- and made fewer than half of their free throw tries, 7 of 16, entering the break trailing 48-35.Atlantas first basket came on a 3-pointer by Thabo Sefolosha -- 7:23 into the game.TIP-INSHawks: Entered the night No. 2 in the NBA in assists as a team, getting 28.3 per game, with at least 24 in each of their first four games. They had 22 against Washington. ... Atlanta has accumulated at least 10 steals in every game this season, topping that number by the end of the third quarter Friday.Wizards: Walls 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.WHATS IN RESERVE?Atlantas reserves outscored Washingtons 33-8. The Wizards bench players wound up with the exact same number of points and personal fouls.MAHINMIS PROGRESSWizards C Ian Mahinmi is right on target; hes doing well after having surgery Oct. 15 for a partially torn medial meniscus in his left knee, Brooks said. Mahinmi was hurt in an exhibition game after signing a $64 million, four-year deal as a free agent. Hes progressing well, Brooks said, but he still has some ways to go.UP NEXTHawks: Host the Houston Rockets on Saturday.Wizards: Travel to face the Orlando Magic on Saturday.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrichCharles Jones Jersey . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. Bradley Beal Jersey . The head of USA Boxing came out swinging Tuesday with an open letter to Tyson -- a former Olympic hopeful himself -- that accuses the former heavyweight champion of trying to poach fighters who might be candidates for the U. https://www.cheapwizardsonline.com/ . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. Marcin Gortat Jersey . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. Rasheed Wallace Jersey . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan. RIO DE JANEIRO -- The best baseball news this past week -- outside of the Yankees basically abandoning their postseason chances, of course -- was Wednesdays long expected announcement that the sport will return to the Olympics in 2020.There will be only six teams in those Olympics, which isnt great, but at least they will be played in Tokyo, which is very good. Japan is passionate about baseball, making those Olympics a much better location for the sports return than when the IOC decided to bring back golf beginning with the Games in Rio, where the sport is not widely played and an expensive new course had to be built, adding to financial woes.Which brings up an important issue. While baseball is returning for the 2020 Olympics, there is no guarantee it will continue in the 2024 Games because the host city could replace it with another sport. If the 2024 Olympics are awarded to Los Angeles, its a good bet baseball will be there. But if one of the other three candidates -- Paris, Rome and Budapest -- get the Games, then it becomes less likely.One reason is the cost of constructing baseball and softball stadiums in cities where the sports are not played very much. That is one of the reasons the IOC dropped the two sports after the 2008 Olympics. Many host cities simply would never use those ballparks again, though the 1992 Olympic baseball stadium was still being used in Barcelona when I visited there a couple of years ago.Another reason is that the IOC wants baseball to send its very best major leaguers, as do most other sports, such as basketball. That, however, is not easy for baseball since the Summer Olympics, unlike the NBA season, come smack in the middle of the major league season. Hockey interrupts its season for the Olympics (which the players love, but the NHL team owners dont) as does the WNBA. Japans baseball league did the same thing in 2008. But dont expect the major leagues to do so when so much is at stake, particularly money. That limits many countries from sending their best players.Of course, not sending the best players isnt considered a major issue in mens soccer where age rules greatly reduce the number of top stars from competing. But the IOC doesnt seem to care about that because soccer is so globally popular.The IOC needs to get over that. Basseball is an international sport.dddddddddddd There are current major leaguers from all across the globe, including Japan, Australia, Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, South Korea and Germany as well as America. Heck, there was a player from Lithuania in the Futures Game last month. Aside from Antarctica, Africa is the only continent without a major leaguer, though there are rising prospects from there who might crack the majors soon.Baseball also is much more popular than most events at the Olympics. Does anyone really care about the modern pentathlon? Or sailing? Or trampoline?As former Olympian R.A. Dickey told me last year: If you want to get the greatest athletes in the world together, why not baseball?Even without major leaguers, baseball has sent top prospects to the Olympics. Among them have been Jake Arrieta (2008), Stephen Strasburg (2008), Dickey (1996) and Nomar Garciaparra (1992), plus Tino Martinez (1988), Jim Abbott (1988), Barry Larkin (1984), Mark McGwire (1984) and Will Clark (1984) when it was a demonstration sport. And thats just the U.S. teams.The problem is that those players were generally just prospects and so not very well-known at the time, especially not outside America. How then can the majors get bigger names into the Olympics?One possibility is sending a few recently retired players to the Olympics. They clearly will not be at their peak but they definitely will attract attention and ratings. Imagine the passion if Ichiro is playing for Japan in Tokyo -- if he actually retires by then, since he will be only 46 and has said he doesnt plan to retire until age 50.Another move is for baseball to establish the Olympic team early and then heavily publicize it. Make it clear to fans who the players are and that they are likely to become All-Stars. Have them play exhibitions against major league teams in the leadup to the Olympics. That will give them attention and great experience.Whoever goes, baseball should stay in the Olympics beyond 2020. It is one of the biggest sports in the world and it certainly deserves to be in the Olympics every bit as much as synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics. ' ' '