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This time there would be no miracle comeback for the Nets.
And no momentum-building three-game streak going into the All-Star break.
A night after storming back for a stunning victory at the Garden, the Nets lost 117-103 to the woebegone Wizards at Barclays Center.
The Nets had lost last week in Washington, and the Wizards repeated it again Thursday, shredding Brooklyn’s defense.
“They’re a team that can get going offensively and score the ball,” coach Steve Nash had warned beforehand. “It’s important for us to be very clear on what we’re taking away, I think that’s number one for us. I think you look at their team and I think [Kyle] Kuzma can be kind of the guy that if he gets really going and gets his conference going it kind of opens things up for others.
“But they have they have a lot of guys that are capable, and on any night we’ve seen each of them have good games against us. So it’s really about being solid and sticking to what we do very well.”
The eighth-place Nets (31-28) fell 2 ½ games behind No. 6 Boston in the play-in race, and two behind Toronto.
They also got out-hustled by the Wizards and blew a chance to go into the break on a three-game winning streak.
“That’d be great,” Nash had said beforehand. “Obviously we’ve had a tough stretch, so to finish this part of the season with a win would be great for the morale and reward our guys for enduring this period the way they have.
“But it’ll be tough. You know, we just lost them a week ago or whatever it was, and playing last night in a game where we had to claw our way back. But a great opportunity to continue to show the type of resolve we’re building.”
Patty Mills had a game-high 22 points, but the Nets let Washington shoot 55.4 percent overall and 12-for-24 from deep.
The Nets led 51-46 after Seth Curry found Jevon Carter for a 3-pointer with 3:26 left in the first half.
But the Nets missed 14 straight shots and committed three turnovers in an extended 18-0 run that spanned intermission. It flipped a five-point cushion into a 13-point deficit.
The Wizards still led 67-55 after a Daniel Gafford free throw with 6:54 left before the Nets started to dig themselves back out.
Brooklyn answered with a 21-6 run, including the final eight unanswered points to edge ahead.
Back-to-back Curry 3-pointers got the Nets within six. And trailing 73-68 after a Rui Hachimura foul shot, Brooklyn reeled off an 8-0 spurt capped by Carter’s pull-up 3-pointer.
That broke a deadlock and gave the Nets a 76-73 lead. And it was knotted after three quarters.
But a wretched start to the fourth — with discombobulated offense on one end and blown defensive assignments on the other — led to the Nets conceding a 10-2 run to open the final period.
Nash called a timeout with the Nets down 86-80 with 10:24 to play, but the damage was done. A Hachimura tip-in left the Nets trailing by eight with 9:35 to play and they never recovered.
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