The Washington Wizards had lost five games in a row before they wreaked havoc on the Brooklyn Nets and defeated them, 114-77. Their 37-point victory was their largest margin of victory of the season, and all 13 Wizards scored tonight.
John Wall led the Wizards with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, while dishing out seven assists in only 26 minutes of play. With Bradley Beal out tonight with a sore right toe, Otto Porter Jr. stepped in nicely as he scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds without committing a turnover.
The big man combination of Marcin Gortat and Nene combined to shoot 9-of-14 shooting with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists. Wall established Gortat early as they worked the pick-and-roll game to perfection, leading to easy points in the paint. Kris Humphries and Kevin Seraphin were great off the bench too. Humphries scored nine points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Seraphin added 13 points and eight rebounds.
Rasual Butler was second on the team in scoring as he scored 15 points, including 3-of-6 from behind the arc. Andre Miller and Garrett Temple were huge off the bench as well, as they combined to score 11 points and dish out nine assists. Even the trio of Martell Webster-DeJuan Blair-Drew Gooden got into the act in garbage time. They combined to score 14 points in only six minutes of play. Washington’s bench outscored Brooklyn’s, 62-to-32.
The only player for Brooklyn who had his way was Brook Lopez who scored 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting, while grabbing eight rebounds. Jarrett Jack, who usually owns the Wizards, scored only 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting while turning the ball over six times. The misery continued for Brooklyn’s former All-Star players as Joe Johnson struggled with six points on 3-of-11 shooting and Deron Williams came off the bench to miss all eight of his field goal attempts and finished with only three points.
The real MVP of this game was Washington’s defense, as they held the Nets to an abysmal 33.8 percent shooting from the field and 22.2 percent from behind the arc. The Wizards dominated the glass out-rebounded Brooklyn, 51-to-38, and they moved the ball exceptionally, compiling 31 assists on 44 made field goals. More alarming stats that favored Washington were their 18-to-3 advantage in fast break points and their 64-to-30 edge in paint points.
The Wizards led the entire game and were in clear control, as they led Brooklyn by nine points in the first quarter and by 20 at halftime. It’s always a good game when your starters’ night ends towards the end of the third quarter. This game helped Washington get back to basics and rely on their defense. Washington was in good spirits all night, and they seemed to have fun playing the game for the first time in a while. Of course, winning will do that.
Washington snapped their five-game losing streak and will look to carry this momentum into Monday night as they face the Orlando Magic at 7:00 PM EST at the Verizon Center. Brooklyn’s three-game winning streak was snapped tonight, but they will look to get back on track Monday night as they head to Milwaukee to face the Bucks at 8:00 PM EST. Tonight was the Nets' first game of an eight-game road trip that takes them to the beginning of March.