The Nets’ skid stretched to three games Friday night, as a shorthanded Brooklyn team fell to the Washington Wizards 119-99 and dropped to 10-22, undone early and never able to fully recover on the second night of a back-to-back.
Egor Dëmin was off the injury report and Terance Mann, listed as probable, played, but Brooklyn remained without Cam Thomas (injury management), Nic Claxton (personal reasons) and Michael Porter Jr. (illness) against a Wizards team that had won five of its previous nine games.
The absences reshaped the rotation early. With Claxton missing his first game of the season, Day’Ron Sharpe drew his first start, while rookie Danny Wolf picked up minutes at center, creating another new look for a Nets team still searching for continuity. The early returns were shaky.
Washington wasted little time taking control. The Wizards jumped out to a 20-12 lead, carving up Brooklyn’s defense with clean ball movement and open looks. They opened the night 7-for-9 from the field and 3-for-4 from 3-point range, generating shots with little resistance as the Nets struggled to get organized.
Brooklyn’s offense couldn’t keep pace. The Nets shot just 34.8% in the opening quarter, committed four turnovers and allowed Washington to settle into a rhythm that never really broke. By the end of the first, the Wizards had stretched the lead to 37-24 after closing the quarter on an 11-2 run over the final 3:07. CJ McCollum scored 10 points in the period, Justin Champagnie added seven on 3-for-4 shooting and his buzzer-beating 3 came after a late Nets turnover that summed up the night’s early imbalance. Nine different Wizards scored in the quarter; proof of how easily Washington was able to find the bottom of the net.
It was an 18-point game by the 10:38 mark of the second quarter, but head coach Jordi Fernández didn’t panic and let his group play through it. Brooklyn began to string together stops, rookies Nolan Traoré and Drake Powell found a rhythm offensively, and a Traoré steal and finish cut the deficit to nine with 6:26 left, forcing a Washington timeout. That would be Brooklyn’s final push of the half, as Washington quickly regrouped and restored a 14-point lead by the break.
Brooklyn’s inconsistency on both ends through two quarters overshadowed an otherwise stellar first 18 minutes from Sharpe, who scored 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting with six rebounds and a block.
The third quarter wasn’t much better. Washington shot 50% in the period, fueled by a perfect 4-for-4 stint from Champagnie, and outscored Brooklyn 32-23 to carry a 23-point lead into the fourth. The Nets battled to the horn, cutting the deficit to 12 with 4:24 left, but by then the damage was done, and Washington pushed the lead back to 20 for good measure.
Still, four Nets rookies reached double figures, including 14 points from Powell on 5-for-6 shooting and a career-high 12 points and five assists from Traoré. That growth matters, even in a loss like this.
Champagnie led six Wizards in double figures with 20 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
The Nets return to action Sunday against the Denver Nuggets at Barclays Center.
