The Atlanta Hawks defeated the Washington Wizards, 125-124, at State Farm Arena on Monday night.

There was electricity in the air from the opening tip, as both the Wizards (32-37) and Hawks (38-31) had playoff positioning to play for in the contest and Russell Westbrook was also poised to become the all-time leader in NBA history in triple-doubles after tying Oscar Robertson on Saturday night against the Pacers. As has frequently been the case recently with games involving Washington, the first half was both hotly contested and high scoring. The visitors went into intermission with a one-point advantage, but Atlanta took a seemingly commanding 17-point lead into the final period after a dominating third quarter during which they outpaced the Wizards by a 35-17 margin. Nevertheless, behind Russell Westbrook, who did in fact accomplish the record-setting triple-double with 28 points, 21 assists and 13 rebounds, Washington had a chance until he misfired on a three-point attempt with just over a second remaining following a Raul Neto block of John Collins.

Rui Hachimura followed Westbrook with 20 points, adding three rebounds and one steal. Robin Lopez provided 18 points, three rebounds and one block. Ish Smith registered 16 points, three rebounds, one assist, two steals and one block. Davis Bertans supplied 15 points, four boards and two assists. Neto poured in 12 points.

Trae Young paced the Hawks with 36 points, complementing them with nine assists and six rebounds. Collins posted 28 points, eight rebounds, one assist, two blocks and one steal. Bogdan Bogdanovic furnished 25 points, five boards, four assists and two steals. Clint Capela generated a 10-point, 22-rebound double-double with one assist and four blocks.

The Wizards and Hawks reconvene for a rematch on Wednesday night at State Farm Arena.