NEW YORK — The Nets had a spark. There was Monday, when Seth Curry propelled them to a win against the Kings, snapping an 11-game losing streak. And of course, there was Wednesday’s game against the Knicks – a stunning, spirited comeback, where they erased a 28-point deficit behind Cam Thomas’ cold-blooded shooting.
But even before the Nets took on the Wizards in the second game of a back-to-back on Thursday night, Steve Nash hedged his bets. Despite recent promising returns, his team was still undermanned – playing without Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons and Joe Harris – and they were depleted ahead of a much-needed weeklong break. "It’ll be tough," he said.
It sure was.
Though the Nets had bursts of proficiency against the Wizards, they wilted down the stretch, struggled to get key stops, and fell, 117-103, at Barclays Center. The Nets end the first half 31-28 and in eighth place in the Eastern Conference – no doubt disappointing, given the super-team they had going into the season. But it’s also not as bad as things could have been, given their injuries, the James Harden trade, and the fact that Irving can’t play in home games due to his vaccination status.
Back-to-back threes by Thomas and Jevon Carter helped the Nets erase a 13-point deficit in the third quarter, but they were outscored 39-25 in the fourth and let up what ended up being a momentum-shifting 8-0 run early in the quarter. Patty Mills led the Nets with 22 points but was held scoreless in the third. Thomas added 20 points. The Nets shot 40.3% to the Wizards’ 55.4%. Seven players scored in double digits for the Wizards, led by Rui Hachimura, with 20.
Hachimura and Ish Smith totaled 24 points and 11-for-13 shooting in the fourth quarter as the Wizards outscored the Nets 39-25.
"You know, [a win before the All-Star break] would be great," Nash said before the game. "Obviously, we’ve had a tough stretch, so to finish this part of the season with a win would be great for morale and reward our guys for enduring this period the way they have. But it’ll be tough. You know, we just lost to them a week ago or whatever it was and [we were] playing last night in a game where we had to claw our way back; but a great opportunity to continue to show the type of resolve we’re building."
Both teams had evenly matched, if sloppy, first halves, with the Wizards taking a 55-51 advantage at the break behind a 9-0 scoring run to end the second quarter. The Nets stayed in it largely due to Mills, who scored 17 points in the first half, including 4-for-5 from behind the arc. He had five threes total, putting him at 186 this year – now fourth all-time in franchise history in single-season three pointers, and well within shooting distance of D’Angelo Russell’s record or 234, set in the 2018-2019 season. He’ll represent the Nets in the All-Star three-point shooting contest.
The Nets, clearly gassed, committed nine turnovers that led to 12 points in the first half. The Wizards, also on the second game of a back-to-back, were marginally better at taking care of the ball, committing seven turnovers for six points. And despite the fact the Nets dabbled in going big early on – Blake Griffin was out there with both LaMarcus Aldridge and Andre Drummond at times Thursday – they were outscored in the paint 30-14 in the first half.
The Wizards kept it going in the third quarter, scoring the first nine points to make it an extended 18-0 run, putting them up 64-51 on Raul Neto’s step-back three-pointer with 9:05 left in the quarter. The Nets shot 0-for-14 from the floor during the run.
The Wizards led by as many as 13 in the third quarter, before the Nets put together a 23-7 run to go up by three. Thomas hit a left-wing three to tie it at 73 and Carter hit another three in transition to briefly put the Nets ahead with 1:36 left in the third.
But though they went into the fourth quarter tied, the Nets again struggled to get a stop. They let up an 8-0 run to let the Wizards go up 88-80. That streak was snapped by Mills’ three, his first points of the second half.
