Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal scored a quick six points in a beautiful 3.8-second series that propelled the Washington Wizards to a 149-146 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday night.
“Right now we have nothing to lose,” Westbrook said. “It’s winning or going home.”
The Wizards, five points lower than the shot clock turned off, were apparently on track for a fifth consecutive loss.
“Honestly, Ish (Smith) just told me to push and pull it,” Beal said after the game. “That’s all we could do in that situation.”
It worked.
Beal jumped up the track and pulled up to nail a three-pointer that brought Washington within 8 points of Brooklyn with 8.1 seconds left. When Nets forward Joe Harris quickly penetrated the ball, teammate Kevin Durant cut to the basket. The wrong communication allowed Wizards guard Garrison Mathews to steal the ball in the corner and dish it up to Westbrook, who buried 3 more with 4.3 seconds to play.
While the Wizards clung to a one-point lead, the Nets took a time-out. When the game resumed, Nets guard Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot managed to examine the last two seconds of the game well, but his effort rolled off the edge.
Two made free throws from Beal, who achieved Washington’s victory.
“We had that game,” Nets guard Kyrie Irving said. “It should have been ours, so we just look at ourselves in the mirror and see what we can fix as individuals and as a group – especially with difficulty. I could not protect a stick today. Those guys have just went right around me, and I got a little frustrated. ‘
The Nets led Capital One Arena by as many as 18 points and had three 25-pointers in Harris, Irving and Durant. The Wizards and Nets combined 295 points were, according to ESPN Stats & Information, the second-most-controlled game without overtime in the past 25 seasons.
But defensively, Brooklyn kept struggling. The Nets gave up 72 points in the paint, tied for their third most conceded in a game in the past 25 seasons, and the most allowed in a game since 2017. Beal was able to score 22 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter. . The Wizards outscored the Nets 12-2 in overtime.
“It was the first game all year that I had a White Claw,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. “I wanted to enjoy it. It’s a good feeling. I wanted our players to enjoy it. We fought. We fought hard … We did it all year and the basketball gods gave us a break tonight. gave.”
The Nets’ defensive problems enabled the Wizards to stay in the game. While the final series of the game was the culmination of the breakdown of the Nets, Irving said Harris’ turnover and the subsequent three were a “microcosm” of the issues that plagued Brooklyn all night.
“It does not come from one play,” Harris added. “But at the same time, I mean, if I had not made the turnover, we would not be sitting here talking about loss.”
Nets coach Steve Nash called Harris’ turnover an “unfortunate moment” but said it was not to blame for the loss.
“If you give up 149 points, it’s one mistake in about 50 defensive phases,” Nash said. “So not good enough defensively, and we can look at the missing lineup or the turnover for the three there, but we should not have been in that position. We had a big lead early on and we kept them for a long time. “It’s a long time until their confidence grows. They’re a desperate (group) looking for a victory, and we gave them a chance and gave them life.”
For Durant, “This is one of the things you just have to get rid of.”