Beal, Wizards get it done late
In a rough-and-tumble, foul-filled game, Bradley Beal took over in the fourth quarter with 16 of his 31 points, including a key late 3-pointer, helping the Wizards beat the Atlanta Hawks, 109-101, last night in Washington for a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference firstround series.
John Wall earned chants of “M-V-P!” while finishing with 32 points and nine assists, including the dish to Beal for his shot from beyond the arc with 38 seconds remaining that sealed the win for the hosts.
Washington, which trailed 78-74 entering the final period, won despite only a combined seven points from starting forwards Markieff Morris and Otto Porter Jr., who were both in foul trouble early.
The series now shifts to Atlanta for Game 3 on Saturday.
Paul Millsap led the Hawks with 27 points and 10 rebounds, and Dennis Schroder scored 23 points. But Dwight Howard had only seven rebounds, half his Game 1 total, and six points.
Millsap scored 14 points in the third quarter, including six during a 13-0 run by the Hawks that took them from a deficit to a 74-67 edge with a little more than 31⁄ minutes left in that period.
But Beal and Wall were too much in the fourth, with some help from backup point guard Brandon Jennings, who accounted for eight consecutive Wizards points during one stretch, making three baskets and assisting on another.
Rockets 115, Thunder 111 — James Harden scored 35 points and host Houston overcame 51 points from Russell Westbrook in a triple-double, clawing back from a double-digit deficit to beat Oklahoma City and take a 2-0 lead in the first-round Western Conference playoff series.
Westbrook set a franchise playoff scoring record and added 13 assists and 10 rebounds in the most points ever scored in a postseason triple-double. It was the sixth career playoff tripledouble for Westbrook, who had an NBA-record 42 in the regular season.
But the Rockets contained him long enough in the fourth quarter to surge ahead, then hold on.
Game 3 is tomorrow night in Oklahoma City.
The game was tied before Houston scored 10 straight points with 3-pointers from Harden, Patrick Beverley and Eric Gordon to make it 114-104 with 1:22 remaining.
Elsewhere in the NBA — Kevin Durant was out for the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of their playoff series with Portland last night.
Durant strained his left calf during a Game 1 victory Sunday, when he had 32 points and 10 rebounds in his playoff debut for Golden State. He didn’t practice Tuesday and wasn’t seen at the team’s morning shootaround yesterday, then Warriors coach Steve Kerr made the announcement during his pregame press conference. . . .
Cleveland starting point guard J.R. Smith is listed as questionable for Game 3 tonight at Indianapolis as the Cavaliers look to take a 3-0 lead over the Indiana Pacers.
Smith, who hurt his leg at some point in the first half of Game 2, said he’ll “absolutely” be ready for Game 3. However, the Cavs aren’t willing to go that far just yet and will likely wait until game time before clearing him.
If Smith can’t play, Iman Shumpert, who came off the bench to replace him Monday night and gave Cleveland a lift, likely will start.