Poor rebounding drops Wizards against Nets to lose fourth straight

Nets 125

Wizards 118

December 14, 2018 | Barclays Center | Brooklyn, NY

Right when you thought the Washington Wizards may have turned things around after winning 9 times in 14 games, they go on a four-game skid to drop to .500 even after you take out the 2-9 start to the season. Against the Brooklyn Nets, a sub-par team, the road team was unable to take care of business in the big city for the second time this season. As a result, another domino fell triggering a rather wild postgame.

Dreadful quarter comes in the second

Against the Boston Celtics, it was the third quarter that Washington lost 38-22 to put them behind. Against the Nets, it was the quarter before the halftime break as they lost the 12-minute frame 43-28, the second most points allowed by the Wizards in a second quarter this season after 44 surrendered to the Thunder. The Nets were 14-of-21 from the field (66.7 percent), 5-of-7 from three (71.4 percent), and 10-of-12 from the free throw line since the Wizards committed 9 fouls in the quarter. A 20-8 run midway through the quarter turned the tide against Washington.

Lousy rebounding display

Coming into Friday’s game, the Wizards were the third worst (behind the Suns and Grizzlies) rebounding team in the NBA with just 40.7 boards per game. They have not won a game this season when grabbing less than 38 rebounds, 0-8. Without Dwight Howard and often playing small with Markieff Morris, who can be disinterested in rebounding at times, at center, it makes sense that Washington struggles on the glass, but to this degree is simply the result of inconsistent and misdirected effort. Scott Brooks challenged John Wall and Bradley Beal to combine for 10 rebounds a game this season, the duo combined for just two against Brooklyn.

Offensive was certainly not the issue

Scoring 118 points on 54.4 percent shooting should mean winning most nights in the NBA even though everyone is scoring at historic rates this season. Washington tied their second most assists on the season with 30 and suffered their first loss when recording 29 or more assists in a game this season after previously being 5-0. Bradley Beal did his thing with 31 points and 9 assists. John Wall was so-so in scoring efficiency with 17 points on 16 shot attempts including 1-of-7 from deep but had 13 assists, and Markieff Morris returned to bench form with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Defense, starting with rebounding, was the reason why the Wizards are on a four-game skid after winning 9 of their previous 14.

Next Game: Washington will host LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in a special edition of Capital One Arena relocating to Hollywood on Sunday at 6 p.m.