WASHINGTON — Bradley Beal got back to his high-scoring ways with 40 points, lifting the Washington Wizards to a 122-115 victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night.
Beal overcame a slow start and surpassed the 25-point plateau for the 22nd time in 23 games. His string of 21 such games was snapped Sunday when he scored 23 in a loss to Miami.
Rui Hachimura: "No doubt I am going to have the best dunk of the night."
— NBC Sports Wizards (@NBCSWizards) March 11, 2020
Brad Beal: "About that..." pic.twitter.com/r1tUZ6I7rL
The Wizards’ win meant the Heat will have to wait at least one more day to clinch an Eastern Conference playoff spot. Miami can do so with a home win Wednesday against Charlotte.
Beal scored 27 in the second half after connecting on five of his first 15 shots against the Knicks.
Shabazz Napier added 21 points for the Wizards.
Bobby Portis led the Knicks with 20 points against his former team, while Julius Randle added 16 before fouling out.
Both teams squandered big leads. The Wizards lost a 14-point lead in the first quarter, and the Knicks blew an 18-point advantage in the third.
The teams are out of the playoff hunt in the East, and it sounded as if there were more Knicks fans than Wizards supporters in the stands.
When it was announced late in the first quarter that a 3-pointer by Frank Ntilikina was overturned by replay review, there were more boos than cheers in the more-than-half-empty arena. Chants of “Let’s go, Knicks!” and “MVP” could be heard as rookie RJ Barrett shot free throws.