It took a wild rally in the last 10 seconds at Capital One Arena, but the Washington Wizards knocked down the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday afternoon.
The Wizards, after Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal hit a pair of 3-pointers in the space of about four seconds, upset the Nets 149-146.
“This was one of the craziest, if not the craziest games I’ve ever seen,” said Wizards coach Scott Brooks. via The Athletic’s Fred Katz.
Scott Brooks was just late than usual at his post-game media session. The reason?
“That was the first race of the whole year that I had a White Claw.”
– Fred Katz (@FredKatz) February 1, 2021
Beal, Westbrook is making a comeback
The Wizards, after starting the game on the wrong side of a 23-9 run, came back and were only five points behind with just 10 seconds left on the clock.
Beal, after putting the ball on the field after a few free throws from Kyrie Irving, expertly drilled a deep bucket from behind the arch to suddenly bring Washington to just two.
When the Nets entered the ball, Garrison Mathews came up with a massive feat and donated it to Westbrook – who himself sunk a 3-pointer to put them in charge.
The whole sequence lasted about four seconds. According to NumberFire, the Nets had a 97.95% chance of also beating the Wizards after Irving’s free throws.
While stealing from Mathews was a very obvious mistake for the Nets, coach Steve Nash doesn’t specifically blame that player. His team gave up nearly 150 points on Sunday night, and now has both the worst defensive rating in the league and the worst defensive rating in NBA history when the season was over.
“It was just a mistake, and it happens, but if you give up 149 points, that’s one mistake in about 50 defensive rounds,” Nash said over the YES network. “[We were] not good enough defensively. We can look at the missed lay-up or the turnover for the 3 there, but we shouldn’t have been in that position … They’re a desperate team looking for a win, and we gave them a chance and they got it given life. “
Beal, after coming up with a stop, sank a few free throws to seal the three-point win for Washington – signifying its first win since Jan. 11 as the team faced a massive COVID-19 breakout that nearly got them. sidelined for two weeks.
Westbrook led the Wizards with an almost triple-double, finishing with 41 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Beal was not far behind with 37 points, of which 22 in the fourth quarter.
“It wasn’t something I needed to see, but I feel like our effort and the way we played was great,” said Beal. via Katz.
“It wasn’t just one guy who won us the game or two guys. It was a collective effort by everyone. “
Kevin Durant led the Nets with 37 points and seven rebounds while firing 11-of-19 in the defeat, which broke a four-game win streak. Joe Harris added 30 points and Irving finished with 26 points and eight assists. They were without James Harden, who missed the game with a bruise in the thigh.
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