Westbrook, Beal come up big for Wizards in late comeback vs. Nets

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook combined for 78 points and hit clutch shots down the stretch to fuel the Washington Wizards to a late comeback win over the favored Brooklyn Nets in a high-scoring thriller Sunday night.

The Wizards trailed by five points with just 8.1 seconds remaining before the veteran guards lifted their team to a 149-146 victory at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

Beal started the quick comeback when he dribbled from coast-to-coast up the middle of the court and drained a deep 3-pointer to cut the Nets lead to 146-144 with about 8 seconds remaining.

Wizards guard Garrison Mathews then stole the Nets' inbound pass and dished the ball to Westbrook, who drilled another 3-pointer to give Washington a 146-147 lead with 4.3 seconds remaining. Beal hit two free throws in the final second to secure the triumph.

"It's part of my responsibility as a leader to make sure I bring it every single night," Westbrook told reporters after the game. "I take pride in doing that, coming in every night and making sure I have my energy so my teammates can feed off it."

"We got off to a rocky start, but we overcame adversity and fought through it together," Beal added.

Brooklyn got off to a hot start and pushed its initial edge to 18 points before it held a 38-28 lead after the first quarter. Kevin Durant scored 13 points in the second quarter to help the Nets take a 71-65 lead at halftime.

The game stayed tight through the third quarter before Westbrook and Beal combined for 37 points over the final 12 minutes to steal momentum from Brooklyn.

Washington used a 10-2 run to cut the Nets lead to 132-131 before Brooklyn pushed its advantage to five points, twice, down the stretch. Kyrie Irving made two free throws with 12.3 seconds remaining before Beal and Westbrook hit their back-to-back 3-pointers to spark the late comeback.

Westbrook scored a game-high 41 points and had 10 rebounds and eight assists and Beal added 37 points.

Durant scored 37 points in the loss while Kyrie Irving had 26 for the Nets. Forward Joe Harris also chipped in 30 points.

"They made timely shots," Durant said. "You have to give them credit. The played extremely desperate all night."

The Nets (13-9) next host the Los Angeles Clippers at 7:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and the Wizards (4-12) host the Portland Trail Blazers at 8 p.m. at Capital One Arena.