Bradley Beal outscores Stephen Curry as Wizards top Warriors
Bradley Beal #3 of the Washington Wizards and Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors talk during the second half at Capital One Arena on April 21, 2021 in Washington, DC. Will Newton/Getty Images/AFP
The streaking Washington Wizards harassed Stephen Curry into 7-for-25 shooting while getting 29 points from Bradley Beal and a triple-double from Russell Westbrook in a 118-114 victory over the visiting Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night.
Westbrook finished with 14 points, a game-high 20 rebounds and 10 assists, though he turned the ball over nine times.
The Wizards earned their season-high sixth consecutive win while handing the Warriors just the second loss in the past seven games.
🐼 Bradley Beal with 29 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and two steals tonight!#WizWarriors | @RealDealBeal23 pic.twitter.com/6aghvTEbiK
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) April 22, 2021
Up 19 early and down 11 in the fourth quarter, the Wizards rallied behind the late scoring of Westbrook and Beal before Davis Bertans turned a Beal assist into a 3-pointer that gave Washington a 110-108 lead with two minutes remaining.
The Warriors drew even one last time on two Kelly Oubre Jr. foul shots 19 seconds later, but Westbrook and Beal countered with back-to-back layups, putting the Wizards in front for good.
Golden State had one last chance to tie after a Curry layup with 21.2 seconds left and an Andrew Wiggins steal nine seconds later.
Wiggins’ driving attempt rolled off the rim with 8.1 seconds remaining, after which Bertans dropped in a pair of clinching free throws.
Another game, another triple-double for Russell Westbrook: 14 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, and three steals! 😤#WizWarriors | @russwest44 pic.twitter.com/DlhPStdhd5
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) April 22, 2021
The expected shootout between the league’s top two scorers fizzled mainly because Curry experienced an off night. He missed his first seven 3-point attempts and had only four points at halftime before finishing with 18, his fewest since he also scored 18 on March 17 at Houston.
Curry had averaged 42.8 points in the first four games of the Warriors’ now-completed trip, propelling into the NBA scoring lead over Beal. He put up 40 or more points three times on the trip, including 47 at Boston and 49 at Philadelphia in his previous two games.
However, he was outscored by 11 points on this night by Beal, who did much of his damage at the foul line (11-for-11). Beal shot just 8-for-21 from the floor.
Bertans and Daniel Gafford chipped in with 19 points apiece and Raul Neto contributed 18 for the Wizards, who completed a 4-0 homestand. Beal and Gafford also found time for 10 rebounds apiece.
The Wizards outshot the Warriors 41.8 percent to 39.6 percent overall and 35.7 percent to 33.3 percent from 3-point range.
Oubre had 24 points, Jordan Poole 22, Kent Bazemore 19 to go with nine rebounds and six steals and Wiggins 14 for Golden State, which experienced a setback when Draymond Green fouled out with 2:44 to play. Green had eight points, eight assists and three steals in the game.
