John Wall had 36 points and 11 assists, and the Washington Wizards rallied from 17 points down in the first quarter to beat the Houston Rockets 135-131 in overtime.
The Wizards trailed 27-10 with 6:21 left in the first quarter. They outscored the Rockets 125-104 the rest of the way.
During clutch time, the Wizards outscored the Rockets 23-16. Bradley Beal (No. 7 in clutch points, 2018-19) scored 7 of the Wizards’ 23 on 3 for 3 shooting. Late in the fourth quarter, James Harden had 4 of his 13 assists, 1 of them on a basket by Clint Capela that tied the game and 2 on baskets by Eric Gordon and Danuel House Jr. that put the Rockets ahead. In that stretch, Otto Porter Jr. had 2 of his 3 steals, both with the game within five points, and the Wizards scored 3 points off them. With 1:53 left, P.J. Tucker stole the ball from Beal, and House’s driving dunk off it put the Rockets ahead 123-121.
Beal scored 32 points on 12 for 18 shooting, and Markieff Morris added 22 points (9 in the fourth quarter) and 11 rebounds on 8 for 12 shooting off the bench. The Wizards had 2 30-point scorers.
For the Rockets, Harden had 54 points, 8 rebounds, 13 assists and 3 steals, and Gordon added 36 points with 8 3-pointers. Capela had 17 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks. The Rockets had 2 30-point scorers.
The Wizards shot 56.2% from the field and 37.9% from 3 to the Rockets’ 47.4% and 37.5%. The Rockets turned it over 21 times, about 5 more than usual for this many possessions. The Wizards outscored the Rockets 45-9 off the bench. The Wizards’ starters were outscored 45-28 in 12 minutes together.