Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal both hit 3-pointers with less than 10 seconds left in the game to quickly erase a five-point deficit as the Washington Wizards ultimately came up with the 149-146 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
First, it was Beal, who raced up the court and drilled the three in Bruce Brown‘s face. Then, it was Garrison Mathews who stole the inbounds pass from Joe Harris as Mathews found Westbrook in the left-wing for the wide-open three.
The Wizards went up by one at that point which led to a Brooklyn timeout with 4.3 seconds left in the game. Out of the timeout, Westbrook tipped away an inbounds pass to Kevin Durant which shaved off a good second and a half. The Nets called another timeout.
With 2.9 seconds left, Kyrie Irving inbounded the ball to Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot inside for a very nice layup attempt which would’ve likely won them the game, but it rimmed out. Irving was quite lucky that he didn’t get called for a travel, as he shuffled his feet before getting the ball inbounds.
Still, that entire play was so beautifully set up. Three Wizards defenders were clearly trying to deny Durant the ball and a look inside, which is obviously a smart approach to take. However, that allowed Luwawu-Cabarrot to slip in with no one on him and completely catch Rui Hachimura off guard near the rim for the easy layup attempt. If TLC made that layup, then the conversation about this game would’ve shifted completely.
Westbrook got back to the player we’re all accustomed to seeing in this game, as he finished with 41 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists. Beal added 37 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
“I don’t take this game for granted,” Westbrook said after the come from behind win. “I try to cherish every moment and leave it all on the floor.”
The Nets got off to a great start in this one, as they led by as many as 18 points in the first quarter. However, the Wizards got themselves right back into the game early in the second quarter, and while they trailed most of the game, they kept pace throughout.
Defense has been an issue for Brooklyn all season long, as Washington carved up the Nets’ interior defense with 72 points in the paint. 22 of them came from Westbrook.
“We were kind of letting them get downhill almost at will and they are even drawing fouls or finishing at the rim plus second chance opportunities,” Harris said.
Many people will be quick to blame Harris for turning the ball over and TLC missing the layup attempt at the end of the game as reasons why the Nets lost. However, Irving, who has consistently been saying the right things about his teammates all season long, stepped up yet again to deflect the blame from Harris and TLC.
“Number one – it is just reminding Joe Harris and TLC that stuff happens and it is not their fault,” Irving said. “That was just a microcosm of what the game was like tonight. We had the lead and were pretty comfortable but down the stretch, we still got to be hungry until it’s zeros on the clock. As you saw, Washington was very desperate and we expected them to play well tonight. Anytime a team goes up against us, we expect them to start hitting things.”
In a collaborative environment, it’s hard not to feel the weight of an outcome on your shoulders when you make an error that leads to a loss. That’s why it was important for Kyrie to step up and reassure his teammates that this loss wasn’t on them; it was a team loss.
The good news for the Nets is that they still have three of the best scorers in the league and it’s still very early in the season, so there’s still plenty of time for them to figure out their offensive and defensive tendencies as a group. Once that’s figured out, this team will be deadly.
As for the Wizards, while their head coach Scott Brooks enjoyed a nice White Claw to help take the edge off of him following this stressful affair, nobody can expect their star player and leading scorer in the league to celebrate the same way.
“I’m going home to my wife and kids, man,” Beal said. “We got more work to do. No celebration in the Beal household.”
