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FINAL: Wizards 127 | Lakers 124
SCORING LEADERS
Wizards: Bradley Beal (33), Russell Westbrook (32), Rui Hachimura (15)
Lakers: LeBron James (31), Montrezl Harrell (26), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (21)
SUMMARY
The Wizards defeated the Lakers 127-124 in overtime on Monday night at STAPLES Center, extending their win streak to five games. Bradley Beal scored a game-high 33 points while Russell Westbrook played one of his best games of the season, finishing with 32 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists. Like Westbrook, LeBron James finished just short of a triple-double, totaling 31 points, nine rebounds and 13 assists.
Beal was a bright spot for the Wizards’ offense in the opening minutes, scoring 11 of the team’s first 21 points. He went to the bench shortly after capping his first quarter shift with a 3-pointer. In the final 2:36 of the first, with Beal on the bench, Los Angeles closed the quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 10-point lead into the second. After the Lakers lead hit 16 with 5:21 left until halftime, a 9-1 run from the Wizards, including five points from Garrison Mathews, cut the lead to eight. But Washington couldn’t maintain the momentum. Los Angeles answered with a 10-3 run to lead by 15 just before halftime.
Washington made its move in the third, cutting a 17-point lead with 9:25 left in the quarter to three with a 23-9 run that took just over seven minutes. Beal scored nine points on 3-6 (.500) from the field to lead the comeback. Just over a minute into a back-and-forth fourth quarter, Deni Avdija intercepted a pass from James and started a fast break that led to a Davis Bertans corner 3-pointer, cutting the Lakers’ lead to one. Just one possession later, Avdija knocked down a three of his own to give the Wizards the lead. Bertans struggled for most of the night, but knocked down two threes in the fourth quarter, including one with 4:52 remaining to extend the Wizards’ lead to 102-94. With that triple, Bertans extended his streak of games with multiple 3-pointers made to 13 consecutive games, two shy of tying Beal for the longest such streak in team history. The Lakers worked their way back and tied the game at 111 on a 3-pointer with 1:08 remaining, but Avdija converted on a clutch triple with just under a minute left in the game. James scored four points in the final 16.4 seconds, but missed a free throw that would have given the Lakers a one-point lead with 9.8 seconds left. On the other end, Beal missed a step-back jumper at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.
Westbrook opened the overtime period with buckets on each of the Wizards’ first two possessions, after which Beal scored six straight points for the Wizards. Up by one, inbounding from the sideline and knowing the Lakers would foul, Westbrook ran a give-and-go with Bertans and converted on a continuation and-one lay-up to take a three-point lead, but missed the free throw. Los Angeles missed two 3-point attempts in the final seconds, giving the Wizards the win.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
Beal, Westbrook shine
For the second time this season, Beal and Westbrook each surpassed 30 points in the same game, combining for 65 points, 21 rebounds, 15 assists, shooting 51.0% from the field and became the first pair of Wizards teammates to total at least 30 points, five rebounds and five assists in the same game since 2004. The duo scored all 12 of the Wizards’ points in overtime, shooting a combined 6-7 (.857) from the field in that time.
While Westbrook finished one assist shy of his fourth consecutive triple-double, he did reach a different milestone, surpassing 7,500 career assists when he found Hachimura for a crucial 3-pointer with 2:35 left in regulation. He’s just the 13th player in NBA history to hit that benchmark. Despite playing a season-high 44 minutes, Westbrook tied his season low with just two turnovers.
Wizards win with paint points, season-low 25 attempts from deep
The Wizards earned a win over the Lakers playing a slightly different style of play than they’ve employed for most of the season. Despite an extra five minutes of action, the Wizards set a new season low for 3-pointers attempted with 25, including just seven in the first half. The Wizards hit nine of those 25 threes, a 36.0% clip. Washington scored 66 of its 127 points in the paint, tied for the second most points the team has scored in the paint the season.
“We don’t just settle for threes,” Wizards head coach Scott Brooks said postgame. “It’s not like we’re taking 40-something threes. We weren’t making many in the first quarter…We got to the free throw line. We’ve got attackers that get to the free throw line…I like how the offense plays.”
James, Harrell carry shorthanded Lakers
While James led the way for the Lakers in the game’s closing stages, it was Harrell’s performance off the bench that set the tone for the team in the early going. In the first half alone, he scored 15 points on 6-10 (.600) shooting, leading a Los Angeles bench that outscored Washington’s reserves 27-4 through two quarters. Harrell’s aggression persisted into the second half. He scored 11 points in the third and fourth quarters, surpassing a previous season high of 22 points. When Harrell got into foul trouble on an and-one transition dunk by Hachimura with 6:46 left in the game, James took over for the Lakers. LeBron scored 13 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
NEXT UP: Wizards at Clippers / Tuesday, February 23 / 10:00 P.M. / STAPLES Center
HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT