The Nets had lost their two games against modest Washington, including the worst defensive performance in the entire NBA all season. On Sunday they broke any hex that the magicians had.
Brooklyn won again, with a 113-106 victory at the Barclays Center.
The Nets scored typically impressive performances from James Harden (26 points, eight assists, five rebounds) and Kyrie Irving (28 game highs, seven boards and six assists). second. Newly acquired Blake Griffin debuted on Nets, and even woke up the crowd with his first mess since December 2019.
The Nets (29-14) threw a 14-point deficit in the first half on a second-quarter lead of two touchdowns they never gave up. They saw Washington crawl at one point with three minutes left to play, but received a response from Nic Claxton (16 points) and kept the Wizards at bay the rest of the night.
Russell Westbrook added 29 points, 13 assists and 13 rebounds for Washington. But Brooklyn survived to win for the 15th time in 17 games (and fourth in a row at home) to advance halfway through Philadelphia, awaiting the Kniicks-76ers ’game result. The only downside was that Landry Shamet suffered a sprained right ankle.
Still, it marked a quantum leap from previous meetings against magicians. The Nets came out on the field and gave away the January 3 tilt, allowing 149 points in a January 31 rematch at the Capital One Arena. He remains the highest points allowed by any team this season and had left Brooklyn with just 13-9.
“We are aware. We watched a few clips to remind them what we want to take away, what we didn’t withdraw in the first game, “said Steve Nash. “The first game pleased us more than anything. We were big and we never went down and watched because things were so easy on the offensive end and they had a huge quarter and we kicked it out at the last minute.
“The last game in Washington, in particular, in the fourth quarter, I thought they had 50 points in the fourth quarter, and a lot of them were [Bradley] Beal or Westbrook take him from coast to coast all over the neighborhood. So go back, show a crowd, have the discipline to do it over and over again and then go down and get a stance and protect people. We can’t take anything for granted. “
They have done better. The Nets are 16-5 from behind a much improved defense.
“We have improved with our technique, more clearly with what we ask them to do. We spent more time together, “said Nash before the game. “We have added more layers, so I think it is more than anything the time and dedication that has given us a better step.
“But we must continue to improve. We are not a defensive juggler. We have to keep improving all year and getting better every time, and tonight is another opportunity to clean up a few things. “
Brooklyn was left behind soon, going down from 20 to 6 in a Garrison Matthews hat-trick with 7:14 left in the first quarter.
But exactly one period later, with 7:14 in the half, the Nets had completely turned the game around with a long stay of 35-14, including the withdrawal of nine unanswered points to open the second quarter.
Joe Harris hit a triple to give Brooklyn a 41-34 lead. The Nets harassed Washington in 5 of 18 shots and eight changes, causing their own transition game in turn.
Harris hit another exactly one minute later to advance to 46-36. And when Irving picked a pass from Westbrook, he brought up a Bruce Brown position at the other end and a 52-38 lead.
Brooklyn saw the Wizards claw within four points, but immediately responded with a 9-1 run to rebuild the lead.
The Nets saw Washington come back inside 103-102 on a Westbrook driving throw with three minutes left, but Irving found Claxton for a sinking play and three points with 2:39 of regulation.
When Brooklyn forced a Matthews foul, Irving grabbed the rebound and hit a couple of free throws at the other end to advance to five with 1:17 left. They held out from there.