Wizards stay hot as Hawks lose early lead

WASHINGTON — Bradley Beal scored 27 points and Montrezl Harrell added 25 with 13 rebounds to lift the Washington Wizards to a 122-111 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night. The Wizards (4-1) continued their impressive start under first-year coach Wes Unseld Jr., winning this time without new point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who missed almost all of last season because of a knee injury and rested on the second night of back-to-back games. The Hawks (3-2) cut a 20-point second-half deficit to five in the fourth quarter, but Harrell dunked off a pass from Beal, and then a dunk by Beal made it 115-106. Washington led 64-55 at halftime and extended its advantage to 20 during the third quarter. Harrell came to the Wizards along with Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope when Washington traded veteran guard Russell Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers in the offseason. Kuzma and Caldwell-Pope scored 21 points each Thursday. The Hawks, who won at New Orleans the night before, took an early 16-10 lead against Washington but couldn’t build on it. Atlanta shot 54.5%, but the Wizards’ advantages in free throws (17-9) and 3-pointers (13-6) were too much to overcome. John Collins led Atlanta with 28 points on 14-of-16 shooting, Trae Young added 15 points and 13 assists, Cam Reddish scored 20 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 14.

GOLF

› SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — Brandon Hagy and Chad Ramey avoided the worst of the wind Thursday afternoon, with each player shooting a 6-under-par 65 to share the lead in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship after the opening round at Port Royal was halted by darkness. For those who started in the morning, it might have been easier playing in the dark. The wind and spots of heavy rain were so fierce that play was suspended briefly in the morning, and while it eased slightly in the afternoon, the gusts were strong enough that short putts were nervy and judging the distance on approach shots was key. Ramey managed to finish off a bogey-free round just before play was halted. Hagy made nine birdies to offset his bogeys, one of which was a twofoot par putt he missed on the par-5 seventh hole — largely due to a gust. Vincent Whaley was one back, with six players tied for fourth at 67. The group at 68 included 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed, at No. 24 the highest-ranked player in this PGA Tour event. He opened with three straight birdies only to give most of it back with a double bogey. This was a day for flighting the ball; for so much of the round, the actual yardage was irrelevant. Chattanooga’s Stephan Jaeger was tied for 50th after a 72 by the former Baylor School and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout from Germany. When play was stopped, 33 of 125 players were under par, with some having to return Friday morning to complete the first round. Only six of those scores under par came from the morning.

HOCKEY

› SUNRISE, Fla. — Joel Quenneville resigned as coach of the Florida Panthers on Thursday, two days after the second-winningest coach in NHL history was among

those implicated for not swiftly responding to allegations by a Chicago Blackhawks player of being sexually assaulted by an assistant coach during the 2010 playoffs. The announcement was made shortly after Quenneville met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in New York to discuss his role in the Blackhawks’ response to claims from Kyle Beach that he was sexually assaulted by Brad Aldrich, a Chicago assistant at the time. Panthers assistant Andrew Brunette is now Florida’s interim coach. Quenneville resigned with about three years and $15 million remaining on his contract with the Panthers. In a statement released to TSN, Quenneville said he resigned “with deep regret and contrition.”

BASKETBALL

› Longtime Texas A&M women’s basketball coach Gary Blair announced Thursday that this will be his last go-around with the Aggies, with the 76-year-old set to retire at season’s end. Blair has been at Texas A&M since 2003, and he led the Aggies to the program’s lone NCAA tournament title in 2011. The Aggies have won five conference titles, including the Southeastern Conference regular-season title this past spring, during his tenure. Blair, who was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, has led Texas A&M to a school-record 430 wins.