Westbrook, Beal hit late 3s, Wizards stun Nets 149-146
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wizards coach Scott Brooks envisioned something like this when Washington acquired Russell Westbrook from Houston for John Wall and a draft pick.
It took more time to help the Wizards than expected because of stun Kevin Durant a nagging injury, but and the Brooklyn Nets maybe things are starting 149-146 on Sunday to look up for the ni ght . team with the worst Westbrook had 41 record in the NBA. points, 10 rebounds and
At least for a night, eight assists, and NBA they sure did. scoring leader Beal had
Bradley Beal and 37 points. In the fourth Westbrook hit 3-pointers quarter, Beal had 22 in a wild 3.8-second sequence points and Westbrook in the final seconds had 15. Durant, second in the NBA in scoring, also had 37 points.
“Russel l w i l l ed t hi s game,” Brooks said about Westbrook, who has only played in 10 of 16 games due to a quad injury. “This is what he does. He can do it every night. He doesn’t shoot the ball well every night but he doesn’t take nights out.”
With Washington down 146-141, Beal hit a 3pointer with 8.1 seconds left. Garrison Matthews deflected Joe Harris’inbounds pass to Westbrook and he made a 3 with 4.3 seconds left for a 147-146 lead.
“It was a dumb mistake on my part,” Harris said about the inbounds pass that led to the go-ahead basket.
It was epic collapse from a team hoping to contend for an NBA title but the Nets did get a great look to force overtime.
Kyrie Irving found Timothe LuwawuCarbarrot under the basket with 2.9 seconds left, but his layup attempt spun around the rim and failed to drop. Beal added two free throws with 0.7 seconds left as the Wizards broke a fourgame losing streak and improved to a still NBAworst 4-12.
“I couldn’t guard a stick today,” Irving said. “They were going right around me, and I was getting frustrated, but they kept attacking.”
Harris scored a careerhigh 30 points, and Irving had 26 for Brooklyn which led by as many as 18. The Nets had won four in a row.
James Harden sat out because of a thigh contusion, the first game he has missed since being traded from Houston to Brooklyn on Jan. 13.
“It’s not looking great defensively for our team, giving up that many points,” Durant said after Washington shot 51.9% for the game.
Westbrook has set season scoring highs in consecutive games. He entered the game averaging 18.9 points, his lowest output since his second season in 2009-10.
“That’s part of leadership,” Westbrook said about playing hard every time out on the court. “It’s a part of my responsibility as a leader to bring it every single night. I take pride in that because I don’t think that everybody does that in sports.”
The Wizards are 1-4 since resuming play after a 13-day layoff that included six postponements due to COVID-19 related issues.
TI P-I NS
Nets: Bruce Brown started with Harden out and finished with three points in 32 minutes and picked up a technical in the fourth quarter after some words with Westbrook. Westbrook also was called for a technical . ... Jeff Green scored a season-high 23 points, but Brooklyn fell to 8-3 when Green reaches double figures.
Wizards: Brooks picked up a technical in the first quarter . ... Beal had just 11 points in the first half. … Davis Bertans was 3 for 12 on 3-pointers and finished with 11 points… Washington’s bench outscored Brooklyn’s 50-41 HARDEN HOPEFUL Nets coach Steve Nash said Harden’s injury wasn’t too severe and that Sunday’s absence was precautionary with the hope that it’s just a one game scratch for the former MVP.