WASHINGTON (AP) — Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal did what they do — a near triple-double for one, 25 points in just 29 minutes for the other — and the Washington Wizards reached the NBA playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed by overwhelming the Indiana Pacers 142-115 in the play-in round Thursday night.

Washington led by as many as 38 points and advanced to face Joel Embiid and the No. 1 seed Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, marking quite a turnaround for coach Scott Brooks’ crew, which was 17-32 in early April.

Indiana’s run of five consecutive playoff appearances ended in coach Nate Bjorkgren’s debut season.

A little more than a week after breaking Oscar Robertson’s career record for most regular-season triple-doubles, Westbrook finished Thursday with 18 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, and it was Beal — second in the NBA in scoring two years in a row — whose 3-pointer opened up a 30-point lead at 98-68 with about four minutes left in the third quarter.

Beal skipped the fourth quarter entirely. Westbrook sat out the last 8 minutes and tossed his shoes to a fan.

The backcourt mates both heard “M-V-P!” chants during trips to the foul line, as did reserve center Robin Lopez in an appreciative if more tongue-in-cheek way, from a giddy crowd capped at 5,333 — a quarter of the arena’s capacity — because of COVID-19 concerns.