By Adrian Stewart Co
Atlanta Hawks rained on Russell Westbrook’s historic evening with a 125-124 escape of Washington Wizards in the 2020-2021 NBA Season on Monday at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
Trae Young fired 36 points to go along with nine assists and six rebounds, while Clint Capela hauled 22 boards along with 10 points as the Hawks improved its record to 38-31.
John Collins added 28 markers and eight rebounds, while Bogdan Bogdanovic drilled seven triples and finished with 25 points for the Hawks, which locked in on fifth spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Hawks were comfortably ahead 96-79 after three quarters but were stunned with a huge fourth quarter run by the Wizards as the lead was chopped to 118-119 by a Westbrook triple.
Young and Collins, however, answered with baskets to increase Hawks’ lead to 125-122. Westbrook cut the deficit to 124-125 with a jumper and even had a chance to win it for the Wizards but missed his triple try.
Westbrook finished the match with 28 points, 21 assists and 13 rebounds, his 142nd career triple-double, making him the NBA all-time leader in triple-double surpassing Oscar Robertson.
Rui Hachimura added 20 markers, Robin Lopez, Ish Smith and David Bertans contributed 18, 16 and 15 markers, respectively, as the Wizards dropped to 10th spot in the East with 32-37 slate.
Indiana Pacers, meanwhile, seized the ninth spot in the East from Wizards with its 32-36 slate following its come-from-behind 111-102 victory over Cleveland Cavaliers.
Kelan Martin tallied career-high 25 points, Domantas Sabonis fell short of triple-double with 21 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists, while Caris LeVert had double-double 20 points and 10 assists for the Pacers.
BOX SCORE:
ATLANTA 125 – Young 36, Collins 28, Bogdanovic 25, Capela 10, Gallinari 8, Huerter 7, Hunter 6, Williams 2, Okongwu 2, Hill 1.
WASHINGTON 124 – Westbrook 28, Hachimura 20, Lopez 18, Smith 16, Bertans 15, Neto 12, Hutchison 6, Gafford 4, Matthews 3, Len 2.
Quarterscores: 34-32, 61-62, 96-79, 125-124./ASC, WDJ