Russell Westbrook scored 18 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished 15 assists as the Washington Wizards steamrolled the visiting Indiana Pacers 142-115 on Thursday night in the final Eastern Conference play-in contest to reach the playoffs.
Bradley Beal added 25 points, five rebounds and four assists as Washington earned the No. 8 seed and captured their first postseason berth since the 2017-18 season. The Wizards will face the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, beginning on Sunday in Philadelphia.
The setback eliminated the Pacers and ended the franchise's streak of five straight playoff appearances.
Malcolm Brogdon scored 24 points and Domantas Sabonis recorded a triple-double of 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists before fouling out for Indiana.
Beal made four 3-pointers and also had five rebounds and four assists while playing 28 minutes. He sat out the final 15-plus minutes of the lopsided contest to rest his strained left hamstring.
Washington's Rui Hachimura scored 18 points, Daniel Gafford had 15 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots, and Raul Neto added 14 points. Anthony Gill had 10 points.
 The Wizards went 3-0 in the regular season against the Pacers while averaging 139.7 points
Â
Â
