Bradley Beal nets 34 as Wizards rout Suns
Bradley Beal #3 of the Washington Wizards celebrates against the Phoenix Suns during the first half at Capital One Arena on January 11, 2021 in Washington, DC. Patrick Smith/Getty Images/AFP
Bradley Beal nearly outscored the visiting Phoenix Suns all by himself in the first quarter and finished with a game-high 34 points Monday night as the Washington Wizards grabbed a big early lead and coasted to a 128-107 victory.
Despite playing without Russell Westbrook, out with a strained left quad, the Wizards rode a balanced scoring attack that featured six players in double figures.
Article continues after this advertisementDevin Booker came up one point short in his personal duel with Beal, totaling a team-high 33 points for the Suns.
Washington never trailed, using a 20-10 game-opening run to quickly take a double-digit advantage. Beal did half the scoring in the initial burst.
League-leading scorer @RealDealBeal23 stays hot with 34 PTS, 8 REB, 9 AST in the @WashWizards W! #DCAboveAll pic.twitter.com/KxO0XOjbf5
— NBA (@NBA) January 12, 2021
Beal finished the first quarter with 13 points, just two fewer than the Suns, as the Wizards ran up a 29-15 advantage.
Washington built its first 20-point lead at 43-23 on a 3-pointer by Davis Bertans with 7:14 left in the second quarter and went into halftime holding a 68-42 advantage.
Phoenix got no closer than 21 in the second half.
Beal shot 12-for-22 en route to his sixth 30-point outing of the season. He also found time for a team-high nine assists and eight rebounds.
Bertans finished with 18 points off the bench for Washington, while Raul Neto had 16, Robin Lopez and Garrison Mathews 11 apiece and Rui Hachimura 10.
Lopez added a game-high 11 rebounds.
All of Bertans’ scoring came on six 3-pointers, helping the Wizards gain a 45-12 advantage from behind the arc. Phoenix shot just 4-for-27 from long range.
The 107 points allowed by Washington was a season low. The Wizards had lost three straight, giving up an average of 128.3 points in those games.
Booker went 11-for-21 for the Suns, who were outshot 52.2 percent to 44.8 percent.
Chris Paul notched a double-double for the Suns with 14 points and a game-high 11 assists, while Mikal Bridges chipped in 14 points and Dario Saric 13.
The 128 points allowed were 11 more than the Suns had permitted in any previous game this season.
