Brooklyn Nets vs. Washington Wizards preview: a trip to the nation’s capital

The Nets will try to snap the Wizards longest winning streak of the season — three games — when they travel to Washington tonight.

A win at last. The Brooklyn Nets traveled north of the border to face the Toronto Raptors in a battle of losing streaks and the Nets prevailed as they ended their six-game losing streak by beating the Raptors who now have lost 11 straight, It was a big game for Noah Clowney, the Nets 19-year-old rookie who looked like an NBA player as he put him seven points, grabbed six rebounds, blocked a shot, hit a corner three all in 21 minutes. It wasn’t just the numbers, but confidence the 6’10” power forward showed.

Tonight, the Nets are in Washington to face the Wizards who surprisingly have the longest winning streak in the Eastern Conference at three, having beaten the Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls just last night in the Windy City.

Where to follow the game

YES Network on TV. WFAN on radio. Tip after 7:00 p.m. ET.

Injuries

Cam Johnson, Keita Bates-Diop, Dennis Smith Jr., Ben Simmons and Dariq Whitehead are all out while Cam Thomas who developed back spasms just before the Raptors game is questionable. The Nets announced Wednesday morning that Bates-Diop had a procedure that will keep him out the rest of the season, joining Simmons and Whitehead whose seasons also ended with surgery. KBD has a player option next season.

The Wizards will also have a number of players in street clothes, with Landry Shamet, Eugene Omoruyi, Tyus Jones, Bilal Coulibaly and Isaiah Livers all unavailable.

The game

The Nets won game one and two but lost game three in the four-game series. Tonight is their first game in the 2024 calendar year. While the Nets had a day off Tuesday, the Wizards played in Chicago.

As noted, Washington is winning. After enduring a five-game winning streak, the Wiz picked themselves up last week and won their 12th, 13th and 14th games of the season. It’s only the second time this season they’ve won two or more games straight, having beaten the lowly Pistons and Spurs back in January. What makes this streak more impressive is that they’ve done it against two playoff-bound teams, the Kings and Bulls.

What’s the difference? The Wiz seem to have found a way to utilize the talents of Jordan Poole for one thing. The big free agent signing — four years and $128 million — has been a disaster for the franchise but he’s played a key role of late filling in at point guard with Jones out. In the three wins, he’s averaging 18.3 points a game and two games ago he registered his first double double of the season: 18 points, 12 assists and three steals. That’s a big improvement over his three games vs. the Nets this season putting up only 8.3 points and 3.0 assists.

If the Nets are going to win their second straight, they’ll need another strong game from their three young bigs: the 19-year-old Clowney, the 22-year-old Day-Ron Sharpe and the 24-year-old Nic Claxton. Claxton has been solid in the three games vs. the Wizards this season, averaging 13 points and 11 rebounds against Washington this season and the Wizards rank dead last in the league in rebounding percentage, (If Clax averages 11.0 rebounds the rest of the way, certainly not out of the question, he’ll finish the season averaging a double double, big for his bargaining position in free agency.)

Player to Watch

Speaking of rebounding, Richaun Holmes has been a terror on the boards for the Wizards in their three game streak, He’s averaged 15 boards and 11.7 points. As ESPN wrote of him Wednesday:

The veteran big has started six straight games since returning from a toe injury March 16, and his production — particularly on the glass — has grown nearly with each contest. Holmes has ripped down at least 14 boards in three straight games, and over the last four he has averaged 11.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.0 assists while shooting 54.5 percent from the floor.

The solidly built Holmes could be an interesting match-up for Claxton who’s been on his own rebounding tear of late. He’s secured 10 or more boards in eight of the Nets 13 games this months. In the Raptors game, he had 16, his highest total since late January.

From the Vault

Kevin Durant loved to play his hometown team when with the Nets. The Prince George County native had some of his best games vs. Washington. Here’s a 39-point performance from last season.