Washington Wizards split a pair with the Brooklyn Nets
The Washington Wizards have now completed a back-to-back in which they faced off against the Brooklyn Nets two nights in a row. On Friday night, they took a bullet to the chest, falling to the Nets by a score of 101-80 in the Verizon Center. The next night, they traveled to Brooklyn and got redemption, winning 99-90 and splitting a pair with the Nets.
Brooklyn has gotten off to rough start here in 2014. Starting point guard Deron Williams has not had his best season. Although he holds respectable numbers, averaging 13.9 points and 6.3 assists per game, he is shooting under 40 percent from the field.
The tenth-year veteran has never shot below 40 percent in a season once in his career, so that is a number that will have to be raised. However, he hasn’t been the biggest bust of the season for Brooklyn this season. Wily veteran Kevin Garnett has not performed at his best this year.
The 38-year-old has averaged just 7.1 points per game here in 2014, and hasn’t been able to stay on the court all that long in a game, averaging just 21.5 minutes played in 33 games.
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On top of that, there have been rumors that Center Brook Lopez could perhaps be on his way out of Brooklyn. The Oklahoma City Thunder are very interested in trading for the All Star, in a package that would include Kendrick Perkins and some others. However, trade rumors swirl around Lopez every single season, and yet, he is still in a Nets uniform.
Even with Lopez though, the Nets currently stand at 17-24, which quite obviously means they are seven games under .500. However, for anyone that says that the Eastern Conference is good this year, just keep in mind that if the season ended today, even the Nets would be in the playoffs.
Yes that’s right, even with a record of 17-24, Brooklyn currently holds the eighth and final seed in the East. As for Washington, they currently have the second-best record in the East only behind the Atlanta Hawks. However, they are five games behind Atlanta. Yes, the Hawks have performed quite impressively this season, but that discussion is for another time.
The win for Brooklyn on Friday night was huge, as they came into Washington and put the hammer down on a very good Wizards team. But here’s the question: was it legit or just a fluke? Well, the very next night the Wizards came back and took a victory back, but the Nets did perform pretty well and stayed in the game until the end.
The Wizards will host the Philadelphia 76ers before facing off against five Western Conference teams. The Wizards have defeated some tough opponents this season, but they have yet to prove that they can consistently do so. Here is their chance.