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FINAL: Wizards 118 | Warriors 114
SCORING LEADERS
Wizards: Bradley Beal (29), Davis Bertans (19), Daniel Gafford (19)
Warriors: Kelly Oubre Jr. (24), Jordan Poole (22), Kent Bazemore (19)
SUMMARY
The Wizards defeated the Warriors in a 118-114 thriller on Wednesday night at Capital One Arena. Washington has now won six consecutive games and eight of its last nine. Bradley Beal scored a game-high 29 points to lead four Wizards who scored 18-plus points while former Wizard Kelly Oubre Jr. led the Warriors with 24 points off the bench.
Russell Westbrook finished the night with 14 points, 10 assists and tied his career high with 20 rebounds. The game marked Westbrook’s 27th triple-double of the season and 173rd of his career, putting him just eight behind Oscar Robertson’s all-time NBA record. He’s now recorded a triple-double in three straight games and 13 of his last 15.
The Wizards raced out to an early double-digit lead in the first 4:37 of the game, led by seven quick points from Beal, and closed the quarter on a 10-2 run to go up by 18 heading to the second quarter. All nine Wizards who saw the court in the opening quarter put points on the board and Westbrook grabbed seven of his 20 rebounds. Golden State mounted a quick comeback in the opening minutes of the second quarter, tying the game at 44 on a pair of free throws from Oubre Jr. with 5:38 left in the first half. Minutes later, Daniel Gafford finished on a pair of dunks, both assisted by Westbrook, to help the Wizards retake the lead. Gafford shot 5-5 (1.000) from the field in the first half and scored 11 points as Washington led 60-58 at the break.
The Wizards went up by nine early in the third when Raul Neto knocked down his second of three 3-pointers on the night. The Warriors, however, stormed back again, riding a 22-4 run to a nine-point lead of their own. Stephen Curry and Kent Bazemore combined for 19 points in the third quarter, leading the Golden State comeback. Neto played the entire third quarter, scoring nine of his 18 points to lead the way for the Wizards. Jordan Poole knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Warriors up by 11 with just under seven minutes to go, their largest lead of the game, but the final six minutes belonged to Washington. A 21-6 run, led by Beal and Westbrook, gave the Wizards a four-point lead in the final minute. A late triple from Davis Bertans put the Wizards on top for good before a series of aggressive drives from Beal and Westbrook sealed the win. Bertans finished the night 4-10 (.400) from 3-point range and has now knocked down four-plus 3-pointers in six of eight games since returning from a calf injury.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
Wizards welcome fans back to Capital One Arena
For the first time in over 13 months, Wizards fans were able to watch the team play in-person at Capital One Arena. Just over 2,000 fans – 10 percent of the building’s capacity – filled the seats and were present from the opening tip. Just before tip, Beal stood at center court and addressed the Wizards fans in attendance, thanking them for their support and reiterating how much it meant to have them back in the stands. Those fans made their presence known, providing an atmosphere that did not go unnoticed by coaches and players.
“(It was) incredible,” Wizards head coach Scott Brooks said postgame. “You want them to see our team. Our team needs it. I think what they can see with our team is the resolve and resiliency and a team they can be proud of. We play hard. We don’t make excuses. That’s what we’re about and that’s hard to do…We never make excuses; we just keep chugging away.”
Beal outduels Curry in battle between NBA’s top-two scorers
Wednesday night’s matchup was headlined by the backcourt matchup between the league’s leading scorers. Curry entered the game ranked first in the league at 31.40 points per game with Beal just 0.32 behind at 31.08. Both Beal and Curry saw extended 30-point-game streaks come to an end. Beal had scored 30-plus in five consecutive games while Curry entered the game having scored at least 32 points in each of his last 11 games. Beal recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 29 points and 10 rebounds. He shot just 8-21 (.380) from the field, but got to the line 11 times and hit each one. Just as he did in the teams’ first meeting of the season, when he scored 10 points in the closing minutes and converted on a game-winning four-point play, Beal saved his best work for crunch time. He totaled seven points and two assists in the final 2:44 of the game.
On the other end, the Wizards’ defense held Curry in check all night. He finished with 18 points on 7-25 (.280) from the field and 2-14 (.142) from deep. Postgame, Brooks credited Westbrook’s defensive effort against Curry.
“(Westbrook) did a great job guarding him, putting pressure on him, making him take tough shots, making him go to his second and third options,” Brooks said. “It wears him out…Every now and then an amazing player like (Curry) will have an off-game and (it had a lot to do with) Russell.”
Avdija exits with right ankle injury
With less than a minute to go in the first half, Deni Avdija went down with a right ankle injury after a contested layup attempt. The Wizards rookie was consoled by coaches and teammates as he exited the game in a wheelchair. Following the game, Brooks said he did not yet know the extent of the injury.
“(We) don’t know what it is now,” Brooks said. “They’re going to look at it. I’m sure they’re going to look at it (with) some more testing tomorrow. We don’t know exactly what it is. We don’t want to speculate. I will talk to him after.”
“Two things about Deni that I love: he cares a lot and he works extremely hard,” Brooks added. “Those are two characteristics that we want our program to be about and he’s about those things.”
NEXT UP: Wizards at Thunder / Friday, April 23 / 8:00 P.M. / Chesapeake Energy Arena
HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT