The Washington Wizards are unbeaten no more after their flat performance against the Brooklyn Nets.
Kevin Durant had 25 points and Patty Mills added 21 off the bench as the Nets cruised to a 104-90 win. Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 19 points in the loss.
The loss drops the Wizards to 2-1, and opens the door for improvement. Meanwhile, the win gets the Nets to .500 with a 2-2 record.
Wizards had no energy from opening-tip
There was no energy from the opening tip for Washington. Bradley Beal returned after missing Saturday’s win over Indiana with a hip contusion. But the three-time All-Star struggled from the field, shooting 8-of-22, including 3-of-13 from three. He also had five turnovers.
Beal didn’t come with the fire he did in the season opener. But neither did his teammates. The lackluster start helped the Nets open up a 25-point lead in the first half and they never looked back.
After the blowout, both Beal and energy booster Montrezl Harrell accepted responsibility for the flat performance.
Spencer Dinwiddie and Kyle Kuzma cooled off
Beal wasn’t the only Wizards player who couldn’t find a rhythm on offense. Washington shot just 34.7% from the field and was 9-of-39 from three as a team.
Newcomers Spencer Dinwiddie and Kyle Kuzma played their worst games as Wizards to date. Dinwiddie was 3-of-13 shooting and finished with 10 points. Kuzma was 3-of-11 shooting, including 0-of-5 from three. He finished with six points.
Dinwiddie came into Monday’s game averaging 23.5 points on 50% shooting. Kuzma had averaged 18.5 points on 46.7% shooting. Hopefully both performances against the Nets are aberrations.
Wizards had a lack of ball movement
Ball movement was the theme in Washington’s first two wins. But against the Nets, the basketball stuck, primarily on the left side of the offense. The Wizards took 95 shots in the game and finished with 90 points. They had 16 assists on 33 made shots which illustrates the lack of ball movement.
The Wizards settled too often for iso, and the shots that followed didn’t go in.
Nets opened door but Wizards couldn’t get through
The Nets scored 47 points in the game’s first 17 minutes. But, their offense was stagnant the remaining 31 minutes, scoring 57 points over the course. The ball seemingly stuck with James Harden and Durant late.
At times the kinks that led to the Nets 1-2 start showed up. The Nets looked to run out of gas playing on the back end of a back-to-back. Yet, the Wizards could never muster a run to challenge.
Just when the Wizards cut the deficit to nine in the third quarter, Harden and Mills made shots, extending the lead back to double-digits. Wizards could only trade baskets and never got on an extended run to make it more competitive.
