First Kyrie Irving, at that point Kevin Durant. When the two hotshots had missed, a Brooklyn Nets group that trusts it’s sufficient to win a title wasn’t even adequate for a triumphant record.
Bradley Beal had 27 focuses, 10 bounce back and the help on Thomas Bryant’s thumbs up dunk with 14.9 seconds left, driving the Washington Wizards to a 123-122 triumph over the Nets on Sunday.
Irving and Durant missed jumpers in the last six seconds, dropping the Nets to 3-4 in their first season with the couple playing together.
“It’s just taking time and it’s not going to be put together overnight, nor am I expecting it to, nor am I going to get frustrated over six games or however many games we’ve played,” Irving said. “The object of this regular season was to continue to get better and prepare for the 16 wins in the playoffs.”
Russell Westbrook had 24 focuses and 10 helps however just five bounce back subsequent to recording triple-pairs in his initial four games with the Wizards. Bryant got done with 21 focuses and 14 bounce back as Washington won its second in a row after a 0-5 beginning.
“We guarded our tails off. We defended without fouling late down the stretch,” Beal said. “We know how hard of a job that is. We’ve got two of the best players ever to touch a basketball on the other side, so it’s a tough task, man, but I think we did an excellent job of accepting that challenge.”
Irving had 30 focuses and 10 helps for the Nets, while Durant had 28 focuses, 11 bounce back and seven helps. Yet, Durant likewise had six of the Nets’ 20 turnovers that prompted 23 Washington focuses.
“I can live with two or three, but six of them is too much for me,” Durant said.
The lead changed hands as often as possible down the stretch before Beal missed a jumper with the Wizards somewhere near one. Bryant snatched the bounce back and the ball returned to Beal, who crashed into the path and dished it to his enormous man.
Irving at that point missed a 3-pointer however the Nets snatched the bounce back and got it to Durant, whose jumper with 1.5 seconds left was off.
The Nets, who pulled out a 145-141 shootout against the Hawks on Wednesday, were on speed for another at halftime. Down 12 right off the bat in the subsequent quarter in the wake of being outscored 11-0 to begin the period, they got done with a whirlwind to lead 71-70.
The Wizards got their safeguard in the subsequent half and went forcefully to the sheets, getting done with 23 more shot endeavors.
“I thought we had a chance to extend the lead a couple of times but that’s a team that’s ready for the championship this year with all that talent they have,” Washington coach Scott Brooks said. “They just keep coming with talent but I thought we competed.”
TIP-INS
Wizards: Rookie Deni Avdija turned 20 on Sunday. Creeks kidded that the initial five games with the first-round pick were harsh. “I don’t care for instructing youngsters,” Brooks said. … Westbrook had no bounce back in the primary half.
Nets: Brooklyn tumbled to 1/3 on its homestand with games remaining Tuesday against Utah and Thursday against Philadelphia. … Joe Harris scored 16 focuses.
20-20 VISION
Irving and Beal both scored 20 focuses in the main half. They share the NBA lead with four 20-point parts this season.
SCORING STATS
Beal has scored at least 20 focuses in 30 straight games, the longest dynamic streak in the NBA. Durant arrived at 25 focuses for the fifth consecutive game, the longest streak by a Nets players since Deron Williams had six of every a line from Feb. 11-20, 2012.
UP NEXT
Wizards: Visit Philadelphia on Wednesday.
Nets: Host Utah on Tuesday.