Russell Westbrook was having the best game of his season so far when Rajon Rondo baited him into an ejection early in the 4th quarter.
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The Wizards succumbed to yet another 4-game slide after this loss to the Hawks. They’re now at a paltry .200 record and look fated to miss even the play-in tournament. The teams ahead of them are nearly all missing key players as well, and the Wizards’ defense looks as leaky as ever.
They would have had an opportunity to stay in this game, but they stunk it up totally from the 3-point line. The Wizards made just 7 of their 28 looks from range, and 3 of those were from Russ’s 5 attempts. Bradley Beal missed all 8 of his attempts from the 3-point line.
The Russ ejection was hardly the only contentious call of the game. Robin Lopez was the other Wizards player to be sent to the locker room in their worst defeat this past week.
Russell Westbrook and Rajon Rondo jawed at each other all game long
The 2017 NBA MVP had already been T’ed up for an altercation with Rajon Rondo earlier in the game. At the start of the 4th, Russ elbowed Rondo hard as the two jockeyed for rebounding position. This was noted by the baseline referee, who signaled the second technical of the game for Russ.
It was hilarious to see Rajon Rondo point to the locker room as Russ walked off the court. The two already had an altercation during the Bubble playoffs, when Russ went at Rondo’s brother Anton. That was also a case of somebody waving goodbye to Russ, incidentally.
The Hawks had Rondo back for the first time in a while, and it helped their youngsters’ production a ton. Trae top-scored in this game with 41 points – with 16 of those coming at the free throw line. With nearly their full complement of players available, the Hawks are looking every bit like a playoff team.
