Brooklyn Nets vs. Washington Wizards 12/5/16The third quarter woes strike again. The Brooklyn Nets were on fire in the first half of play, scoring 66 points in the first half. Leading by 15 at the break, the Wizards came out swinging in the second half. Brooklyn was held to a dismal 15 total points in the third quarter and gave up 32 to the Wizards. As a result, Brooklyn was behind heading into the fourth quarter. In the fourth, Washington held onto their lead, just barely, sealing the victory 118-113. The loss drops Brooklyn to 5-15 and increases the Wizards to 7-12 on the season.
Brook Lopez and John Wall led the game in scoring with 25 points a piece. Lopez shot 8-15 from the field and 7-9 from the free-throw line while grabbing six rebounds and blocking three shots. Wall tallied up 13 assists on the night, which really made a difference. Wall led the Wizards comeback by scoring and setting up his players all night long.
Brooklyn, as a team, shot 49.4% from the floor and shot 11-27 from long range for a 40.7 percentage. This is one of the first games in a long time where Brooklyn did not shoot a plethora of long balls, especially in the first half. When they started shooting them more in the second half, that is when things started to fall apart a little for the Nets.
Speaking of falling apart, Brooklyn committed 22 turnovers on the night, 17 of them were via steals. Washington, comparatively, only turned the ball over nine times on the night. Fortunately for Brooklyn, Washington actually lost the battle of points off of turnovers, only scoring 12 points off of the 22 turnovers. Brooklyn capitalized with 35 points off of the Wizards’ turnovers.
Another plus for Brooklyn is the fact that they won the rebounding game and the battle in the paint. Brooklyn snagged 51 rebounds compared to Washington’s 35. Brooklyn used those rebounds to set up 52 points in the paint. Washington only scored a mere 38 points in the paint.
It really seems, looking at the statistics, that Brooklyn should have won this game and won it handily. They dominated the glass and points in the paint and they even played solid defense when they turned the ball over. There really was no reason for Washington to win this game, but Brooklyn’s third quarter woes seem to linger year after year. The woes hit them hard tonight, somehow letting Washington take the lead and the win.
Caris LeVert was active for the game against Washington but did not see any minutes. Nets fans are and should be intrigued to see what LeVert can bring to the team on the floor. Maybe we will see him this week.
Grading the Players
Brook Lopez gets an A for tonight’s effort. Scoring over 20 points and blocking three shots while getting a respectable number of rebounds is all Brooklyn can ask of him. He drew fouls and hit a pair of three balls. This loss is not on Lopez as he is putting out great numbers just about every single night he plays.
Trevor Booker also gets an easy A. Coming off of an illness that kept him out of action in Milwaukee, Booker played his heart out. Booker scored 14 points and came down with 14 rebounds for another double-double from the big man. He also snagged a steal and rejected a pair of shots. Booker was an efficient shooter, too going 6-9 from the floor making it clear he is healthy and ready for action yet again.
The last of the three A’s goes to Sean Kilpatrick. Skilpatrick has been on fire of late. Kilpatrick went 8-12 on the night form the floor scoring 21 points. Kilpatrick also grabbed six rebounds and had four assists. It is clear that Kilpatrick is emerging as a leader and a star on this team. The team loves him and fans love him and he is Sean Marks‘ golden acquisition. He is a fun player to watch and we still have three-quarters of a season left to watch him do Skilpatrick things.
Getting a C tonight is Isaiah Whitehead and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Whitehead only scored six points, yet again, but he did dish out five assists. He also grabbed four rebounds on the night. Whitehead is coming along as a point guard, but there is still clearly work to be done. RHJ, meanwhile, is still recovering from his ankle injury as seen by his bench play. Hollis-Jefferson did not do well offensively tonight scoring wise but did come away with five assists and five rebounds. RHJ has never really been a scorer so it is assuring that he can set up players and play defense and even come away with boards down low.
Brooklyn will take on the Denver Nuggets at home Wednesday night. The Nuggets are another beatable team and Brooklyn will look to stop this losing streak right in its tracks. Washington, meanwhile, will go back to the Nation’s Capital to take on the Orlando Magic tonight. Is Jeremy Lin back yet? No, well, okay, just tell him to hurry, Brooklyn is in need of his talents.