With his team under constant assault down the stretch, Bradley Beal did what needed to be done: He played with confidence.
Beal scored a season-high 33 points, including six free throws in the final two minutes, and Washington (22-8) survived a furious fourth-quarter rally by the Rockets for a 104-103 victory in the NBA on Monday night.
“I was just being aggressive, taking what the defence gave me,” said Beal, who also went 5-for-9 from three-point range. “I was fortunate to have a lot of open shots.”
Paul Pierce added 21, and John Wall finished with 13 to go with a game-high 12 assists for Washington, who got their third straight victory to open a five-game road trip.
Washington improved to 22-8 to match their best start after 30 games in franchise history. The last time they did it was the 1974/75 season.
James Harden scored 33 points – including nine in the final 20 seconds, capped by a three-pointer with under a second to go in regulation – and Corey Brewer added 15 from the bench for the Rockets (21-9), who dropped their third straight.
Trevor Ariza, facing his former team for the first time since signing with Houston in the off-season, finished with 15 points and five rebounds.
The win was far from perfect for Washington, who led by 18 points in the third quarter before succumbing to sloppy play.
Houston outscored the Wizards on second-chance points (18-9) and points in the paint (50-34) but were plagued by poor shooting.
Washington had no such issues, shooting nearly 93 per cent from the free-throw line and 44.4 per cent from beyond the arc. Beal’s steady hand from the free-throw line helped the Wizards avoid a disaster.
“It was me shooting with confidence and playing with confidence,” Beal said.
Washington coach Randy Wittman will take it.
“Listen, it’s hard to win in this league,” Wittman said. “What am I taking away from this? It’s a good win to start this road trip. There are things we can do better and we learn from them. But in my book there is not a bad win.”
The Wizards opened the second half on a 9-4 run over the first two minutes and never trailed after that. The Rockets didn’t help themselves, committing five turnovers during the span.
Beal helped give the Wizards a 46-45 half-time lead with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
The Wizards trailed by seven after Patrick Beverley’s layup with 4:46 left in the half, but Beal led a 13-4 surge in the final four minutes with back-to-back three-pointers.
“We had a bad end of the second quarter and we had a bad start to the third,” Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. “We put ourselves in a big hole.”
Houston had early success against Wall. He entered the game averaging 17.4 points and 11.7 assists on just under 50-per cent shooting in December.
“It was a big win,” Wall said. “We almost gave it away with me giving away two turnovers at the end and giving them opportunities to score, but guys stepped up and made big plays for us. “
AROUND THE NBA
Nets 107 (14-16), Kings 99 (13-18)
Mason Plumlee continued his impressive play with a team-high 22 points, Joe Johnson and Jarret Jack each scored 16, and the Brooklyn Nets held on to beat the Sacramento Kings 107-99 on Monday night.
Rudy Gay had 25 points and DeMarcus Cousins added 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Kings, who’ve lost 13 of their last 17 games.
Brook Lopez came off the bench and chipped in 11 points for the Nets, who bounced back from a 25-point loss to Indiana on Saturday night at Barclays Center and won for the fourth time in their last five games.
The Nets led 93-83 with 5:53 left in the fourth quarter after a layup by Deron Williams, but Gay then scored five straight points in a 26-second span, including a three-pointer, that cut the lead to 93-88 with 5:12 to play.
Clippers 101 (21-11), Jazz 97 (10-21)
Blake Griffin scored 24 points and Los Angeles beat Utah for their 12th straight victory over the Jazz, breaking the franchise record for consecutive losses against one club.
Chris Paul finished with 20 points and eight assists.
DeAndre Jordan had 19 rebounds for the two-time defending Pacific Division champions. The Clippers blocked 12 shots and never trailed in the fourth quarter despite leading by no more than five points at any point.
The previous franchise record for wins by the Clippers against one team was set against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Clippers are 10-6 in December with one game left.
Gordon Hayward scored 22 points for the Jazz and Rudy Gobert added 13 rebounds and 11 points off the bench. Shooting guard Alec Burks missed his second straight game because of chronic soreness in his left shoulder. He also sat out two games early this month for the same reason.
Magic 102 (13-21), Heat 101 (14-18)
Nikola Vucevic scored 26 points, Victor Oladipo scored seven of his 22 in the final minutes and Orlando beat Miami.
Oladipo had a layup to tie it, then a free throw to put the Magic ahead to stay and give them their first win against Miami in 11 tries.
Tobias Harris scored 18 for the Magic, who got 13 from Channing Frye.
Dwyane Wade scored 25 points for Miami, who have lost 12 of 18 at home. Danny Granger had 21 points and Chris Bosh scored 20 in his return after missing eight games with a strained left calf.
Granger was 6-for-7 from three-point range, including one that put Miami up 101-97 with 1:38 left. The Heat didn’t score again.
There were nine lead changes and four ties in the fourth quarter, with the Magic knotting the game at 101-all when Oladipo drove by Wade and scored with 45 seconds left.
Bucks 104 (16-16), Hornets 94 (10-22) OT
Brandon Knight scored 18 points, including a layup to force overtime, and Milwaukee pulled away to beat Charlotte.
Jared Dudley scored 17 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 16, Zaza Pachulia had 15, OJ Mayo had 13 and John Henson added 11 for the Bucks, who snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Hornets dating back to the 2011/12 season.
Kemba Walker scored 28 points, Gerald Henderson added 19 and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 10 for the Hornets, who fought back from a 21-point deficit in the first half.
Walker’s layup with 54.5 seconds remaining gave Charlotte an 83-81 lead, but Knight followed up his own blocked shot for a layup with 16 seconds left to tie the score and force overtime.
Milwaukee then pulled ahead for good on Henson’s three-point play with 3:51 left in overtime. The Bucks led by 13 points in the extra period.
Bulls 92 (22-9), Pacers 90 (11-21)
Jimmy Butler had 27 points and nine rebounds to lead Chicago to a victory over Indiana.
Pau Gasol had 20 points and Derrick Rose added 17 for the Bulls, who have won seven straight.
Chris Copeland scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, and George Hill and CJ Miles each added 11 points for the Pacers, who trailed by as much as 21 points in the second half.
Butler scored a three-pointer with 1:07 remaining to put the Bulls ahead for good.
That was after the Pacers went on a 23-2 run and regained the lead on Lavoy Allen’s basket to make it 84-83 with 6:15 left in the fourth quarter.
Chicago tied the four-game season series with the Pacers at 1-1 and won for the first time at Indiana after losing the previous four games.
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