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Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Bradley Beal scored a game-high 33 points and made a series of clutch shots to lead the Washington Wizards to an overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Fellow Wizards guard Russell Westbrook added 32 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in the 127-124 win Monday at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Wizards have now won five-consecutive games, their longest win streak in three years.
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Monday's game featured 10 lead changes and the Lakers led by as many as 17 points.
"It feels great, but at the same time, we still haven't done a thing," Beal told reporters. "We are still hungry for more. We still have games to make up and bad habits we have to correct and get better at."
Beal scored 11 points in the first 12 minutes, but the Wizards trailed 33-23 at the start of the second quarter. The Lakers went on a 10-2 run to end the first frame.
The Lakers then outscored the Wizards 30-26 in the second quarter and led 64-49 at halftime. The Wizards answered with a 10-2 run midway through the third quarter to cut the Lakers lead to seven points. They went on another 8-2 run to start the third quarter, which led to a 90-88 advantage.
The Lakers and Wizards then exchanged the lead in the fourth quarter. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made a 3-pointer for the Lakers and tied the score at 1:11 with 1:08 remaining. Deni Avdija then answered with a 3-pointer to give Washington a 114-111 edge.
LeBron James then converted a layup with 16.7 seconds remaining, but Westbrook answered with two free throws to keep the Wizards ahead.
James made a fadeaway jump shot on the next possession to tie the score. He then missed a free throw, which would have given the Lakers a lead with 9.8 seconds remaining. Beal then missed a last-second 3-point attempt, which sent the game to overtime.
Westbrook and James exchanged baskets to start the bonus period. Beal then scored on three-consecutive possessions to give the Wizards a 125-121 lead with 42.4 seconds remaining.
Caldwell-Pope hit another 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one point, but Westbrook answered with a layup on the next possession. James and Kyle Kuzma each missed game-tying 3-point attempts in the final six seconds.
James had 31 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds in the loss. Caldwell-Pope had 21 points. Montrezl Harrell scored 26 points and had nine rebounds off the Lakers bench. Kuzma had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers.
"We built up a big lead in the third quarter, but allowed them to get back into the game," James told reporters. "We took our foot off the gas."
Rui Hachimura had 15 points for the Wizards. Robin Lopez also scored 13 points off the Wizards bench.
"A lot of our roleplayers were stars [Monday]," Wizards coach Scott Brooks told reporters.
The Lakers (22-10) face the Utah Jazz at 10 p.m. EST Wednesday at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. The Wizards (11-17) battle the Los Angeles Clippers at 10 p.m. EST Tuesday at Staples Center.
