Bradley Beal scored 37 points as the Washington Wizards spoiled John Wall’s return to the nation’s capital with a 131-119 victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday.
Beal made 14 of 24 shots from the field and Davis Bertans sank five 3-pointers to highlight his 18-point performance for the Wizards, who posted consecutive wins for just the second time this season.
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Russell Westbrook, who was acquired in the December deal that sent Wall to Houston, recorded a triple-double while playing in both games of a back-to-back set for the first time this season. Westbrook had 16 points — albeit on 8 of 22 shooting from the floor — to go along with 15 assists and 13 rebounds.
Wall scored 22 of his season-high 29 points in the first half and added 11 assists in his return to Washington. The 30-year-old spent the last decade with the Wizards after the team selected him with the top overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft.
David Nwaba collected a season-high 19 points and 11 rebounds and Jae’Sean Tate added 18 points for the injury-riddled Rockets, who have dropped a season-high six in a row.
Houston was playing without Christian Wood (ankle), Victor Oladipo (foot), Eric Gordon (groin) and P.J. Tucker (quad) and saw Ray Spalding sustain an Achilles injury in the fourth quarter.
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Beal did it all during the third quarter, including the curious move of crawling under the bleachers to retrieve a loose ball. On the court, Beal made a pair of jumpers, a layup and a 3-pointer to account for nine of his team’s first 10 points of the quarter to stake Washington to an 82-73 lead.
Raul Neto scored eight points in the quarter, including a driving layup that pushed the Wizards’ advantage to 97-83. Houston closed the deficit to eight at 124-116 with 2:50 to play, but Westbrook drained a mid-range jumper and set up Rui Hachimura for a reverse layup to essentially seal the win.
Wall bolted out of the blocks by scoring 15 points in the first quarter, however his former team held a 38-34 advantage at the end of the session.
–Field Level Media