Russell Westbrook #4 of the Washington Wizards goes up for a shot during a game vs the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena on May 10, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. Casey Sykes/Getty Images/AFP
Washington’s Russell Westbrook got his record-setting 182nd career triple-double on Monday, but the Atlanta Hawks came away with the victory, 125-124 over the visiting Wizards.
Westbrook had 28 points, 13 rebounds and 21 assists, his 36th triple-double of the season, passing Oscar Robertson’s career mark. He posted his fifth triple-double in a row and his 18th in his past 21 games.
Westbrook sank a basket to get the Wizards within a point with 30.1 seconds left, but he missed a 25-footer with 2.3 seconds that could have won the game.
Atlanta (38-31) used the trio of Trae Young, John Collins and Bogdan Bogdanovic with great effectiveness. Young scored 36 points and added nine assists, Collins had 28 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, and Bogdanovic had seven 3-pointers and scored 25. Clint Capela added 10 points, 22 rebounds and four blocks.
36 points, 9 dimes for @TheTraeYoung in the @ATLHawks win. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fAm7JPm5MI
— NBA (@NBA) May 11, 2021
Washington (32-37) got 20 points from Rui Hachimura and 18 points from reserve Robin Lopez.
The Hawks began to pull away in the third quarter, outscoring the Wizards 27-11 to open the frame. A basket by Collins with 3:53 left gave Atlanta a 15-point lead at 88-73. Atlanta had a 96-79 lead after three quarters.
But Washington went on a 19-1 run and cut the deficit to 101-100 on a bucket by Ish Smith with 7:26 left. The Hawks pushed the lead back to nine, but the Wizards kept battling and got to within one point four times in the final three minutes.
The Hawks got De’Andre Hunter back from the injured list. He has been out since March 24 and missed 24 games since February with right knee surgery and the subsequent rehabilitation. He played 14 minutes and scored six.
The Wizards played without Bradley Beal, who strained his left hamstring in the fourth quarter in their Saturday win over the Indiana Pacers. He will also miss Wednesday’s game at Wednesday.
Atlanta has won both meetings against the Wizards this season. The Hawks can clinch a spot in the top six of the Eastern Conference with one more win or one more Boston Celtics loss.
Tenth-place Washington, which has three games remaining, holds a 2 1/2-game lead over the Chicago Bulls in the race for the final spot in the East’s play-in tournament.