“I’ve always told the players from the first week that I was here that winning starts now,” Jordi Fernández said pregame today. “And for a lot of people, winning means different things. You can see a win on the standings — that’s a win for some. Development can be a win. Real minutes in the NBA can be a win.”
Today, it would have been a loss.
Let’s not kid ourselves. For the Brooklyn Nets and visiting Washington Wizards, today’s “game” was all about picking up a key loss to better position themselves for the upcoming NBA draft lottery. Washington came in today with a one game lead over Brooklyn for the top lottery slot. Both teams have just four remaining games, and if the Nets lost, they’d jump into a tie for first.
If you were looking for a contested, high-stakes basketball experience, featuring the heart-pumping, competitive thrill all forms of competition rely and thrive on, the Barclays Center simply was not the place for it today.
Calling the injury report a “laundry list” doesn’t do it enough justice. Between the two teams, the following players did not suit up this afternoon:
Ben Saraf (back tightness)Noah Clowney (left ankle soreness)Terance Mann (right patella tendon soreness/left achilles soreness)Ziaire Williams (left foot soreness)Nic Claxton (right hand soreness)Danny Wolf (left ankle sprain)Michael Porter Jr. (left hamstring strain)Day’Ron Sharpe (left thumb surgery)Egor Dëmin (left plantar fascia injury management)Justin Champagnie (right knee contusion)Bilal Coulibaly (right retrocalcaneal bursitis)Anthony Davis (left finger sprain)Kyshawn George (left elbow sprain)Tre Johnson (right foot sprain)Alex Sarr (left big toe capsulitis)Trisitan Vukcevic (right knee contusion)Cam Whitmore (right shoulder deep vein thrombosis)D’Angelo Russell (not with the team)Trae Young (low back pain/right quad contusion)
Still with us? Gravy. That left each team with only a handful of players available, many having spent the majority of this season in the G-League. Brooklyn started with Nolan Traoré, Drake Powell, Jalen Wilson, E.J. Liddell, and Chaney Johnson. For the latter two, this was their first career start at the pro level.
For a while, it didn’t look too shabby. Even with a motley crew out there, the Nets had an easy time setting up early offense. With how they welcomed any and all Brooklyn ball-handlers inside, you would’ve thought the Wizards were training to be hosts at Applebee’s today. Even Jalen Wilson, who’s not exactly known for putting pressure on the rim, got through for some paint points in the first.
That put an abundance of drive and kick threes on the Easter menu early. The Nets opened the game 6-8 from deep, and in a flash, were up double digits.
“Little bit of game flow, little bit of just taking what I get,” Wilson said. “I don’t want to just be so stuck on threes and limit myself. Like being able to get downhill, not only looking to get to the cup, but looking for my teammates. You know, when the paint collapses, we got guys ready to spray.”
But while Washington couldn’t match Brooklyn’s shooting, the Net defense wasn’t so strong either, particularly on the glass. The Wizards wingardium leviosa’d nine offensive rebounds in the first half for 15 second chance points. The Nets have understandably struggled on the boards since losing Day’Ron Sharpe for the season. Johnson stood as their tallest player today, being just six-foot-nine.
That clean up work from Washington helped them cut the lead to four with 6:06 remaining in the second, yet Brooklyn remained ahead at halftime. Even as the Nets cooled off from three, missing their next nine attempts after the 6-8 start, the Washington defense remained laughably weak. The Nets quit getting fancy, now just taking what their opponent kept giving them, and scored 22 paint points in the second after notching just 12 there in the first. That kept them afloat by five at the break.
Highlights were hard to come by in this game, but Josh Minott provided what he could. He had seven points and two blocks at the break. Wilson led with 13 points at halftime, followed by Traoré with 10, and Ochai Agbaji with eight.
“The dunk he had was crazy,” Wilson said of Minott’s jam. “I think Josh has played with such a high motor, and he’s confident himself. We’re all confident him shooting the ball, guarding good players. I think his hands are very active, and I feel like when he’s playing with that good pace, it boosts us a lot too, because he makes plays that get the crowd involved.”
When play resumed, the Nets had a hard time getting their engines up and running once more. For starters, there were a series of clock malfunctions in the period that made it tough for anyone to get into rhythm. Bub Carrington also started to heat up at the other end, at one point hitting a three that tied us at 73-73 with 4:13 to go in the third.
Still, Brooklyn trotted into the fourth with an 85-84 lead. After being -8 in second chance points, they rebounded literally and figuratively in the third, allowing just one offensive board and two second chance points. They did, however, nearly double their turnover output from the first half, giving it away five times in the third.
Down the stretch, fixing that ended up being their saving grace, or damnation, depending on how you feel about tanking.
The Wizards started the fourth with a 5-0 jolt that gave them their first lead of the ballgame. All of a sudden, the Nets were missing layups, giving up open lanes to the basket, and all sorts of things that if clipped and posted online would create viral hysteria as tanking accusations stack.
But the Nets, as the admirable, yet frustratingly gritty team they’ve been for two years now, battled back with eight straight. It was no heavyweight fight, but two fighters going punch for punch with each other never fails to entertain, and that’s what we saw down the stretch. Will Riley was the guy for Washington, adding 12 points in the fourth. The Nets continued to rely on a balanced attack. With a little over two and a half to go, we were tied 105-105.
Then, after a few missed bunnies by both teams, the Nets had their second 8-0 run in the period, ignited by a handful of Washington turnovers. The Nets played an entirely clean final period, while turning the Wizards over five times for 13 points.
After Traoré and Wilson hit back-to-back threes, each a handful of feet beyond the arc, you knew we were headed for another win most Nets fans will roll their eyes at. Brooklyn went on a 12-3 run to break the tie, take the game, and pass up on the best chance to take the best player this summer.
Traore finished as the leading scorer for the Nets with 23 points and seven dimes while shooting 7-18 from the field and 5-9 from three. Wilson followed with a 19/4/5 line, shooting 6-9 from the field and 2-4 from deep. Liddell reached a career-high with 15 points after shooting 5-7 from the field and 2-2 from deep. He also blocked two shots, grabbed five rebounds, and dished two assists.
In past instances, I’ve advised against getting too worked up over occasional wins for this team. After all, top odds don’t guarantee a top pick, and even with as little as four games left, there’s a number of variables in play that could alter how Brooklyn’s draft goes.
However, today can’t be one of those days. The Nets blew a chance on something right in front of them. Tanking isn’t fun, but neither is this.
Final: Brooklyn Nets 121, Washington Wizards 115
NBAE via Getty Images
The drama-riddled Milwaukee Bucks are next on the docket for the Nets. Brooklyn hasn’t played the Bucks since December. Believe it or not, they beat the breaks off them, winning by 40+ points. With the season coming to a close an draft lottery positioning being top of mind, we’ll hope for a different result this time. The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday.