Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
Just one game removed from a solid team dismantling of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Wizards tonight found another way to self destruct as a team against the Brooklyn Nets.
The Nets who came into D.C with just a 6-8 record appeared to be the much better team tonight. It looked as if the bench again had gone to sleep and that Otto Porter Jr. could not find the basket again, giving the Wizards a missing fifth starter that could make the difference in this game late in the fourth quarter.
So how does this happen again to the Wizards and this so called “really good team”? Scratches head! The nets had four turnovers in the first five minutes and they only scored 13 points in nine minutes. Yea, that was the first half, the second half after Nets Head Coach Kenny Atkinson made his changes in the line up was anything but the same for the Nets.
“They made some good changes and forced us to make some mistakes with our second unit. They are a lot better team than their record shows,” said Wizards Head Coach Scott Brooks.
The brightest light of the night was the effort from Dwight Howard, who tallied 25 points and 17 rebounds in total on the night. He also did so on an efficient 9-of-13 shooting and with more consistent effort than anyone else on the floor for Washington.
After the game Howard came back out on the court and asked the Capital One Arena staff to put the basket back in the air, as he wanted to work on his shots and his post game.
The commitment to this team from some players and not others is sort of winding its away around the locker room and with Portland coming into town on Sunday, the Wizards could very easily be back in the same hole they dug themselves out of just two games ago.