The Nets were coming off one of their best weeks in recent memory, returning from the West Coast with a three-game winning streak and all the laurels and platitudes that fatten teams up for the kill. Then woebegone Washington did just that.
Lawrence Frank had warned his team not to let the winning get in their eyes, not to let the victories blind them. Then they proceeded to get blindsided by a sorry Wizards team they never saw coming, thrashed 108-88 by Washington and booed by their home fans.
They went into halftime down just 51-50, but came out for the third with about as much zest as day-old oatmeal. When the Wizards went zone, the Nets let them go on a game-clinching 30-11 run. They shot just 4-of-18 while letting Washington – a 2-12 team missing star Gilbert Arenas – torch them for 12-of-19.
“It’s unacceptable. It’s just tough, man,” Vince Carter said. “We got the shots we wanted. In the second half shots weren’t falling. Our aggression took a step back in the second [half]. No energy. We just didn’t have energy.
“They were the aggressors. There could’ve been four guys out there. They beat us to loose balls, we gave them all the open shots that they wanted. We didn’t take them out of any sets we didn’t make it tough for them.”
It strains credulity that this was the same team that went 3-1 on a West Coast trip and saw Devin Harris average 30.0 points and join Carter in dominating. It begs the question, did they get swelled heads, or are they just wired to shine on the road and stink at home, 6-3 away and just 3-5 at the Swamp?
Harris had 18 and Carter 16, but both struggled.
The former, coming off a career-high 47 points at Phoenix, had just three in the Wizards’ key run, and finished with two assists. The latter shot just 6-of-17, including 2-of-9 in the decisive spurt.
“We just laid an egg in the third quarter, dug ourselves too deep a hole, and we didn’t have enough energy to dig ourselves out,” said Harris. “Our energy level was low, especially in the second half, and we didn’t look good out there.
“The zone kinda threw us for a loop a bit. We aren’t used to seeing it exclusively like that. We got good looks but when we don’t hit them we start pressing and doing things we’re not used to.”
The Wizards were the NBA’s last winless road team, and were in just their fourth game under interim Ed Tapscott, who replaced the fired Eddie Jordan. But Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison each had 22, the latter scoring 11 in the game-breaking run.
Now the Nets have to figure out how to win at home – starting a span of eight of 11 at IZOD – and handle prosperity. Last night they did neither.
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The MRI exam on Josh Boone‘s left ankle came up negative. There’s no structural damage, so he can step up his treatment. brian.lewis@nypost.com
Wizards 108 Nets 88