Trae Young (36 points) and the Hawks spoiled Russell Westbrook’s record-breaking performance on Monday.
Wizards (32-37) at Hawks (38-31)
7 p.m. ET, ESPN
• The Hawks lead the season series 2-0, and spoiled Westbrook’s historic 182nd triple-double (28 pts, 21 ast, 13 reb) on Monday with a 125-124 win. Trae Young led all scorers with 36 points, while John Collins (28) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (25) combined for 53 in the win. De’Andre Hunter played for the first time since March 24 (knee) and finished with six points on 3-7 shooting and three rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.
• Over his past five games, Russell Westbrook has averaged 23.4 ppg, 16.4 rpg and 18.8 apg. He’s the only player in NBA history to reach those thresholds over a five-game span.
• This is a matchup of the top two players in assists per game: Russell Westbrook (11.6) and Trae Young (9.5). Since Young entered the league in 2018-19, he has accumulated 13 games with at least 15 assists; the only player with more during that time is Russell Westbrook with 25. Westbrook has nearly half of those games (12) in this season alone.
• The Hawks enter Wednesday having won four of their last five games. During that stretch, Trae Young is averaging team highs of 27.2 points and 9.8 assists per game, while Bogdan Bogdanovic has added 21.3 points on 51.3% (40-78) shooting from the field and 52.9% (27-51) from 3-point range. Bogdanovic is tied with Damian Lillard and Tim Hardaway Jr. for the second-most 3-pointers made over the past five games, trailing only Stephen Curry (29).
• John Collins has also been on fire for the Hawks, scoring over 25 points in each of Atlanta’s past two games. Washington will look to Rui Hachimura to give Westbrook some help on both ends of the ball with Beal still out. Hachimura was the second-highest scorer in Monday night’s loss with 20 points in 27 minutes and he was also the primary defender on Collins, holding him to only five points (18% of total) in 4:07 (36% of offensive matchup time).
Rudy Gobert is averaging 19.0 points and 18.5 rebounds in two games against the Blazers this season.
Blazers (40-29) at Jazz (50-19)
9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
• The Blazers enter Wednesday riding a four-game win streak that has helped them to the No. 5 spot in the West with three games to play. During the streak, Damian Lillard is averaging 33.5 points on 56.9% (41-72) shooting from the field, 53.8% (21-39) from 3-point range and 96.9% (31-32) from the free-throw line.
• Damian Lillard has scored at least 30 points in five straight games and six of his last seven. He is the fourth player this season to have a streak of five games or more, joining Stephen Curry twice (11, 7), Bradley Beal twice (6, 5) and Paul George (5). The Blazers are 24-9 this season when Lillard scores at least 30
• In two matchups this season, the Jazz have held Lillard to 16.0 points with 44.3% true shooting percentage – those are the second-lowest marks against any opponent this season in both categories; only the Clippers have held Lillard to fewer points (15.5) and worse shooting (41.1%).
• The Jazz and Blazers rank 1-2 in the league in 3-pointers made and attempted per game. Utah attempts 43.2 3-pointers per game and makes 16.8 (39.0%, 4th in NBA). Portland attempts 41 3-pointers per game and makes 15.7 (38.4%, 6th in NBA). While both teams excel at shooting the three, the Jazz are the superior team in defending the three as they allow the fewest 3-pointers made (10.9) and third-fewest attempted (32.1) in the league.
• The Jazz have maintained their hold on the top record in the NBA despite Donovan Mitchell missing the past 13 games (last played April 16) and Mike Conley for the past eight games (last played April 26). With both Mitchell and Conley out, Bojan Bogdanovic has stepped up; he is averaging 28 points on 55.4% shooting from the field, 47.4% from three and 91.5% from the free throw line per the past eight games, while Jordan Clarkson has added 22.4 ppg.
