Brooklyn Outlasts Washington in 2-OT Thriller
Added by Sasha Hampton on January 6, 2013.
There was a thriller at the Verizon Center on Friday night as the revived Brooklyn Nets took on the struggling Washington Wizards beating them 115-113 and extending their losing woes to a whopping 4-27 so far this season. Nets had an unexpected slow start to the night letting the Wizards increase multiple leads throughout the game which made one wonder if Nets were falling back into the under .500 (7-8) road play this year. Wizards #3 overall draft pick, Bradley Beal, gave the Nets all that they could handle repeatedly by scoring a career high 24pts and hitting the 3-pointer that tied the game up to go to the 2nd and final overtime period.
“Bradley kept us alive when we should have been dead and we never should have been dead to begin with,” Coach Wittman said. “How many times we’ve been here? I’ve lost count.” Wittman needs all that Bradley has to offer because the Wizards star John Wall has yet to suit up yet even tho he practiced for the first time on Wednesday.
“Just went down to the wire. There was nothing they were really doing that was killing us. We were neck-and-neck the whole time,” Beal said. Beal’s powerful go-to big man Nene started the thrill by hitting the jumper that tied up the game to go into the first overtime before fouling out. But, no one counts out Brooklyn.
Net’s Joe Johnson, for years had the reputation for being a little lax and go with the flow previously, but felt the need to have his presence felt last night. With 0.7secs left in the 2nd OT Johnson scored the last 2pts of his 18pt night hitting the game winning jumper to prevail the Nets over the Wizards and quiet a few doubts about his take charge mentality while improving his team to a 4-1 record under the interim Coach P.J. Carlesimo era.
“In that situation, man, I’d seen the double team coming and I just took one hard dribble and pulled up for a jumper,” Johnson said. “That’s what big-time players do. We put him in a good position to make the play, and he made the play,” Carlesimo said.
Perhaps some late team energy shadowed the Nets when former Wizard Andray Blatche, who was amnestied by the franchise last season checked in for the Nets, making the crowd boo heavily, and brought some togetherness and toughness back into the Verizon Center. “The thing is, the booing didn’t affect me at all because I don’t play for them. They’re supposed to boo me, they’re supposed to go against me,” Blatche said.”
“I probably screwed up by not playing him more than I did,” Carlesimo said about Blatche’s return. “There’s a lot of people that would not have been able to handle the situation, the first time back. He didn’t handle it. He thrived in it.”
Blatche seems to have found a great home with the Nets this season. With Deron Williams (27pts) returning after trade doubts, the addition of Joe Johnson, and the welcomed injury comeback of the big man Brook Lopez (27pts,13rbs), the Brooklyn Nets are making grand controversy about what team really runs New York. There is still alot of basketball left to be played, and the last anticipated matchup with the New York Knicks (
1.21.2013) is right around the corner. Will that end result of the winner
on 1.21.2013 determine who are the kings of New York this year? We will see.
