Will Riley notched his second consecutive 30-point game, while Julian Reese notched his third career double double in the Washington Wizards road loss vs. Brooklyn
The Washington Wizards would limp into Sunday's contest against the Brooklyn Nets, and while taking a brief lead for the first time in the fourth quarter, fell 121-115 for the sixth consecutive loss this season.
Will Riley led the way with 30 points in the loss while Julian Reese finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds, the third game in nine career NBA appearances the Baltimore native recorded at least 16 rebounds. Jamir Watkins also tallied a new career-high with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting along with eight rebounds.
The Wizards entered tipoff with just eight available players. Justin Champagnie, Bilal Coulibaly, Tre Johnson and Tristan Vukcevic were all ruled out ahead of tipoff, joining Anthony Davis, Kyshawn George, Cam Whitmore, Alex Sarr and Trae Young on the inactive list.
Six of the eight available players appeared in the G League this season, while neither Jaden Hardy nor Sharife Cooper saw the court in the first half with the rest of the six available players picking up the slack.
That helped Julian Reese nearly notched a double-double by halftime with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Will Riley - who was ruled a starter yet came off the bench to start - helped trim the early 15 point deficit midway through the first quarter to eventually make it a four point game midway through the second quarter for three of his 15 points through the first half, eventually helping the Wizards take a 59-54 deficit into halftime.
The Nets answered with a quick run to build back a double digit lead in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Wizards wouldn't go away after Jamir Watkins stepback in the paint made it a four point game once again. Minutes later, Cooper would check into the game where his presence would be felt after his bucket made it a one possession game before a three from Bub Carrington tied the game at 73 with four minutes left in the third.
Will Riley would end the third quarter with a buzzer beater to help the Wizards take a one point deficit into the fourth quarter before Anthony Gill's layup in the opening minute gave Washington its first lead of the day.
That would be short-lived, though, after the Nets put together a 7-0 run over the next minute, all made possible by the Wizards' 20th turnover of the day. But the Wizards three point shooting would pick up after a personal 5-0 run by Jamir Watkins was capped off by a three, pushing Washington ahead, 105-101, with under four minutes left to force the Nets to call timeout.
Brooklyn responded with an 11-3 run over the ensuing two minutes to take complete control en route to the six point loss for Washington.
Now 17-61 with a 1.5 game lead over the Indiana Pacers for the league's worst record, the Wizards will now return home for two consecutive games against the Chicago Bulls with game one set for Tuesday, April 7. Tipoff is set for 7:00 PM.