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The Brooklyn Nets picked up their 1st win in Washington in almost 4 years, beating the Wizards Friday night 115-104 to snap a 3-game losing streak.
After at least one member of the Brooklyn Nets admitted the team played with a bit of an emotional hangover Wednesday night, D’Angelo Russell and Spencer Dinwiddie made sure that — unlike the comedic movie franchise of the same name — there wasn’t a sequel on Friday.
Russell and Dinwiddie combined for 48 points, setting the pace and the tone as the Nets pulled away from the Washington Wizards in the second half for a 115-104 win at Capital One Arena in Washington. The win broke a three-game losing skid for Brooklyn, as well.
The last time Brooklyn won in D.C. was Jan. 16, 2015, and the Nets had lost five straight in Washington since then.
The Nets (7-9) turned up the heat defensively with the return of center Jarrett Allen, who had missed the previous two games with an illness. In all three of their recent losses, Brooklyn allowed their opponent to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor.
On Friday, Washington (5-10) was held to 42.5 percent shooting (37-for-87) and were just 3-for-17 from the 3-point line (17.6 percent). Allen played 32 minutes before fouling out and had 16 points, 12 rebounds, two blocked shots and was a force to reckon with protecting the rim.
The Nets also maximized the Wizards’ mistakes, turning 13 Washington turnovers into 19 points. Conversely, the Wizards had just eight points on 12 Brooklyn miscues — six of which happened in the first five minutes of the game before the Nets settled down.
Brooklyn took advantage of 38 free throw attempts, making a season-high 30, and was better than 80 percent for the game before Dinwiddie misfired on a pair in the final minute after absorbing a flagrant foul from Wizards star John Wall on a drive.
That may be a situation to stick a pin in, considering the teams meet in Washington once again on Dec. 1.
Joe Harris had told the media after Wednesday’s 120-107 loss at home to the Miami Heat that the team was still feeling the effects of the gruesome injury sustained by leading scorer Caris LeVert on Monday at Minnesota.
There was no such lingering effects on Friday. The Wizards got an early six-point lead, but Brooklyn steadied the ship after some sloppy offensive play to open the game and led 56-54 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Nets put together a 14-3 run and led by as many as 15 in the period before settling for a 91-79 lead at the break. Russell set the tone in the third with eight points and three assists after Dinwiddie erupted for 10 points and three dimes in the second period.
Brooklyn pushed the lead to as much as 19 points in the fourth quarter and never led by less than 11.
Dinwiddie led a bench charge with 25 points, eight assists and three steals as the Brooklyn reserves outscored the Washington bench by a whopping 56-31 margin. Russell added 23 points with six assists on the night.
Dwight Howard put up his usual big numbers against the Nets, leading the Wizards with 25 points and 17 rebounds before he fouled out with around four minutes remaining.
Bradley Beal scored 20 points while Wall had 16 points and seven assists to go with a technical foul in the flagrant 1 he was assessed with 59 seconds to go. Wall was just 6-for-19 on the night and Beal, Washington’s other All-Star guard, made only 8-of-19.
This was the first night of a back-to-back for the Nets, who return to Brooklyn Saturday for a 6 p.m. start against the Los Angeles Clippers, who open a three-game Eastern swing after winning three straight at home.
Saturday also marks the debut for Brooklyn’s City Edition uniforms, so there will be a splash of color to be had. Here are three takeaways from the win in Washington.