Russell Westbrook explodes in wild Wizards win
FILE– Russell Westbrook #4 of the Washington Wizards in action against the Los Angeles Lakers at Capital One Arena on April 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. Patrick Smith/Getty Images/AFP
Russell Westbrook recorded his 32nd triple-double of the season with 14 points, a career-high 21 rebounds and 24 assists to lead the host Washington Wizards to a 154-141 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.
Westbrook’s assist total matched a franchise-record and his career-high.
The Wizards (30-35), who hold the 10th seed and final spot in the Eastern Conference play-in round, won for the 13th time in their past 16 games and pulled to within a half game of the Pacers (30-34) for ninth place and secured the head-to-head tiebreaker between the teams.
Washington pulled a full three games ahead of the 11th-place Toronto Raptors as well.
Russell Westbrook has now tallied five triple-doubles with 20+ AST, the most in @NBAHistory. Magic Johnson and Rajon Rondo each recorded 4 such games. @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/u7o5fEmFy3
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) May 4, 2021
Domantas Sabonis scored 32 points and totaled 19 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Pacers while Caris LeVert had 33 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
But nine Wizards scored in double figures, including five reserves, and Washington outscored Indiana by a staggering 96-60 margin in the paint.
Rui Hachimura finished with 27 points and seven rebounds and Bradley Beal totaled 26 points, six assists and five rebounds.
Daniel Gafford (7-for-7 from the field) had 15 points and Davis Bertans had 14. Chandler Hutchison and Ish Smith each had 13 points. Alex Len scored 12 points and Robin Lopez added 11.
▪️ 14 points
▪️ Career-high 21 rebounds
▪️ Career-high tying 24 ASSISTS@russwest44 erupts in the @WashWizards win, putting him 4 triple-doubles away from most all-time! pic.twitter.com/CMtXW0WdbR— NBA (@NBA) May 4, 2021
The Wizards shot 61.2 percent from the field and made 9-of-22 from 3-point range.
Washington scored 46 points in the second quarter and 82 in the first half, shooting 57.1 percent from the field. The Wizards had 27 assists on 32 made field goals in the first half and finished with a season-high 50 assists overall. Washington also had 30 fast-break points to Indiana’s four.
Eight Pacers scored in double figures overall as Justin Holiday, Aaron Holiday and T.J. McConnell each scored 15 points. Doug McDermott had 11 points and Oshae Brissett had 10.
Malcolm Brogdon missed his second consecutive game with a hamstring strain. The Pacers remained without Myles Turner (right toe) and T.J. Warren (left foot stress fracture), Goga Bitadze (left ankle sprain), Jeremy Lamb (sore left knee) and JaKarr Simpson (concussion), and also lost Edmond Sumner (10 points) when he left the game in the third quarter with a left knee contusion and did not return.
