For Hawks, a much-needed visit from the Wizards

Joe Johnson scored 21 points, Josh Smith added 20 with 14 rebounds and the Atlanta Hawks beat the visiting Washington Wizards, 116-96, last night to snap a three-game losing streak.

Al Horford finished with 15 points and 13 boards for the Hawks, who won their 11th straight over Washington. They have lost seven of nine overall.

Gilbert Arenas scored 21 and Nick Young added 20 for the Wizards, who have yet to beat a team with a winning record this season and are still seeking their first road victory.

Washington rookie John Wall, the NBA's No. 1 overall draft pick, finished with 10 points, missing his first seven shots from the field and failing to score until his runner made it 69-50 midway through the third quarter.

The game's outcome was all but decided after Arenas' three-pointer cut the lead to eight with 5 minutes left in the second. Over the next 18 minutes, Washington was outscored 51-22, a run that ended with three free throws by Jamal Crawford.

Washington was held to a season-low 18 points in the first quarter, a welcomed change for a Hawks team that trailed entering the second period in their last four games.

Smith gave the Hawks a 21-point lead midway through the third with a lefthanded dunk. Atlanta coach Larry Drew called the play during a timeout, and Johnson responded with a perfectly placed alley-oop pass to Smith, who jumped past Wall for the jam near the right baseline.

Drew rested his starters in the fourth quarter. Wizards coach Flip Saunders did the same except for keeping Arenas in to work with some of Washington's younger players.

Wizards forward Andray Blatche left the game in the third and didn't return after colliding with Smith on an offensive rebound attempt and getting poked in both eyes.

* Police say Hamed Haddadi of the Memphis Grizzlies and his girlfriend have been charged with assault following an altercation between the two. Memphis police were called yesterday morning to a downtown apartment building and found Haddadi, a backup center from Iran, and his girlfriend with bruises and scratches. The arrest report says a verbal disagreement turned physical, and both Haddadi and Goolnaz "Asal" Karbalaeinematmoeeney were taken to a hospital for treatment.

* Celtics guard Delonte West, a Saint Joseph's product, broke his right wrist on Wednesday night in a game against the New Jersey Nets, and a timetable for his return is uncertain, according to ESPNBoston.com. West broke the same wrist in January 2009 and missed 16 games while with the Cavaliers.

* Golden State Warriors forward David Lee has been medically cleared to resume light conditioning a week after undergoing a second procedure on his left elbow to treat an infection. Lee initially had surgery Nov. 12 after he cut the inside of his elbow 2 days earlier in a nasty collision with the mouth of New York's Wilson Chandler, who left a fragment of a tooth in Lee's arm. Lee will be re-examined today.