Nets unleash offensive explosion, dominating paint and ending skid with season-high first-half scoring.
The Brooklyn Nets took their 14th win of the season at home over the Washington Wizards by a score of 127-113, but the final tally is a misrepresentation of Brooklyn's early domination.
Facing a clearly-tanking Washington group missing key names such as Alex Sarr, Tre Johnson and Kyshawn George, Brooklyn took advantage of having a healthy lineup of their own to begin the contest.
The Nets' offense exploded in the first frame, with contributions coming from up and down the lineup. After a competitive first 6:45 of action that saw Brooklyn gain a 21-15 advantage, a 25-5 run to end the quarter gave the Nets a whopping 46-20 lead at the end of one.
The key to Brooklyn's incredible quarter? -- Points in the paint.
Day'Ron Sharpe, Nic Claxton and even Egor Dëmin got to the rim with reckless abandon over the course of the first 12 minutes of play, leading to the Nets' season-high 66 points in the paint for the night.
Sharpe finished with an uber-efficient 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals on 9-for-11 shooting from the field, doing all of the dirty work necessary to finish defensive possessions and secure second chances for himself and his teammates on the other end.
Sharpe's defense at the basket next to Claxton was also a welcome sight, and did plenty to trigger instant offense in semi-transition. Terance Mann (six points, five assists) took advantage of their ability to throw hit-ahead passes, working masterfully on the break and making plays as a distributor.
Rookie guard Nolan Traoré's (15 points, four assists) motor was once again on full display, finishing strong at the rim and manufacturing drive-and-kick actions all night long. Traoré began the night 6-for-6 from the field and didn't miss a shot until the 2:45 mark of the contest.
With all of the Nets' efforts combined with Michael Porter Jr.'s 20-point first half on 70% shooting from the floor, Brooklyn secured a season-high 80-point first half to lead 80-47 heading into the halftime locker room. At the end of the first half, all 10 Nets to hit the floor scored at least three points.
Unfortunately, complacency from the Nets was evident to begin the second half.
Washington's Will Riley began to heat up, Brooklyn's offense went cold, and the Wizards' defense became more inspired with every passing minute.
The Wizards forced the Nets to commit one too many silly turnovers in the third frame, and a few silly fouls did not help Brooklyn's case. A flagrant foul 1 called on Noah Clowney for his closeout on a made Bub Carrington three-pointer with 7:49 left in the third gave Washington momentum, and a dunk by Justin Champagnie immediately following made the score 85-63, capping a six-point play for Washington.
Brooklyn's offense remained cold through the end of the period, as Washington outscored the Nets 35-21 in the third quarter.
Though the Nets were able to stabilize things a bit more in the fourth, the Wizards' stud rookie Riley made it a competitive ballgame. Riley would finish with a career-high 27 points, with 14 coming in the final period.
Thankfully, the combined offensive attack of a patient Ben Saraf (10 points, four assists, four rebounds), Traoré, Noah Clowney (15 points, 5-for-10 FG) and Danny Wolf (16 points, seven rebounds, six assists) gave the Nets more firm ground to stand on. Still, the Wizards were able to cut the Nets' earlier 34-point lead down to 12 in the final minutes.
Brooklyn ends their three-game losing streak heading into what should be an interesting matchup against the new-look Chicago Bulls on Monday night.
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