Westbrook posts triple-double to carry Wizards past Lakers
sh Smith #14 celebrates with teammates Russell Westbrook #4 and Bradley Beal #3 of the Washington Wizards in front of Dennis Schroder #17 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half at Capital One Arena on April 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. Patrick Smith/Getty Images/AFP
Russell Westbrook had a triple-double, Bradley Beal scored 27 points and the Washington Wizards beat the visiting Los Angeles Lakers 116-107 on Wednesday.
Westbrook finished with 18 points, 18 rebounds and 14 assists for his 30th triple-double of the season. Alex Len had 18 points and nine rebounds for Washington (28-34), which has won 11-of-13 and currently holds the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.
Article continues after this advertisementAnthony Davis led the Lakers (36-26) with 26 points. Andre Drummond had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who have lost four of five.
Hear from @russwest44 after he notched his 176th career triple-double in the @WashWizards win, putting him 6 away from most all time. pic.twitter.com/hKU81T0gLL
— NBA (@NBA) April 29, 2021
The Lakers shot 43.8 percent (42-of-96) from the field and were outrebounded 61-49.
Article continues after this advertisementLos Angeles trailed by six at halftime and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s 3-pointer pulled the Lakers within 69-67 with 7:52 left in the third quarter. But Raul Neto’s 3-pointer kicked off a 17-2 Wizards run, capped by Beal’s 3-pointer and Len’s free throw, which made it 85-69. The Lakers went scoreless for just over four minutes.
Ish Smith’s 3-pointer pushed the lead to 90-74 and the margin was 13 after three quarters.
The Wizards increased the lead to 19 points early in the fourth quarter when Westbrook got a rebound and hit Smith ahead of the pack for a dunk with 9:11 remaining.
Davis hit a trey to get the Lakers within 102-89 midway through the fourth quarter and dunks by Ben McLemore and Davis made it 102-93 with 5:29 remaining.
Westbrook hit a driving layup to push the lead back to 11 and, after a Lakers miss, Beal hit a step-back 3-pointer to make it 112-98 with 3:11 remaining.
Russell Westbrook tallies his 176th career triple-double and is now 6 away from passing Oscar Robertson for most all-time!
18 PTS | 18 REB | 14 AST pic.twitter.com/yNPjQB95nK
— NBA (@NBA) April 29, 2021
Markieff Morris’ jumper gave the Lakers a 45-41 lead midway through the second quarter, but Lopez scored eight straight points to put the Wizards up by four.
Beal’s pull-up jumper gave the Wizards their biggest lead of the half, 57-49.
Beal, who finished 11-of-18 from the field, had 15 points in the first half, and Montrezl Harrell led the Lakers with 12.
