WASHINGTON — As the Nets have turned their season around in 2014, vaulting themselves back into the playoff chase, they’ve become a trendy pick to make the second round of the playoffs and give the Heat or Pacers — the prohibitive favorites to clash in the Eastern Conference finals — a run for their money.
But if the Nets are going to do that, they first have to get out of the opening round of the playoffs. And, as the Wizards showed in beating the Nets 101-94 Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 20,356 inside Verizon Center, doing that isn’t going to be easy.
But if the Nets are going to do that, they first have to get out of the opening round of the playoffs. And, as the Wizards showed in beating the Nets 101-94 Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 20,356 inside Verizon Center, doing that isn’t going to be easy.
“They’re good,” Paul Pierce said of the Wizards after the Nets failed to make a field goal over the final 6:22 and allowed Washington to close the game on a 14-3 run. “They’re coming into their own. They’re growing up right before our eyes.
“You’ve seen their struggles over the years, and John Wall has matured as a player, obviously, becoming an All-Star this year and taking on more responsibilities and becoming a leader for this ball club. That’s what the Washington Wizards have been waiting on, and you’re seeing it.”
Wall capped a brilliant performance with a steal and a fast-break dunk with 28.9 seconds left, filling out a line of 33 points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals for the Wizards (35-31), who completed a season sweep of the Nets.
But it’s not just the Wizards who have presented the Nets with problems. While the Nets are 0-3 against Washington, they’re 1-2 against the Bulls and split four games with the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors, who hold a commanding four-game lead over the Nets with 18 to go.
All three pose matchup problems for the small-ball lineup the Nets have had so much success with since the start of 2014. All three squads play almost exclusively with a traditional power forward and center on the floor, meaning Pierce — who has been masquerading as a power forward during their turnaround — has to spend games banging against much bigger defenders.
Yet Washington still managed to beat the Nets on Saturday without starting power forward Nene, who is out with a knee injury, after the Nets collapsed in the fourth and the Wizards roared back behind Drew Gooden.
After being out of the league a month ago, Gooden — who is on his second 10-day contract with Washington — finished with 21 points, including 11 in the fourth, to go along with nine rebounds, as his 3-pointer over former-Wizard Andray Blatche put the Wizards ahead for good at 97-94 with 2:37 left.
“You guys joke about me being old,” Gooden said, “but I’m still Drew Gooden. That’s what I do. Once I see a couple go in, I feel like I can’t miss. Tonight, the ball was definitely on my side, and it dropped for me tonight.”
The Nets came into this one riding a three-game winning streak, including back-to-back impressive wins over the Raptors and Heat, and had won seven of their last eight. But after leading for virtually the entire game, they allowed the Wizards to score 29 points and shoot 60 percent from the field in the fourth to come back.
Outside of Marcus Thornton — who went 4-for-5 in the fourth to score 10 of his team-high 19 points — the Nets scored five points on 1-for-11 shooting from the field in the quarter, including missing their final eight shots.
“We just had a terrible offensive and defensive fourth quarter, and we can’t do that with the playoffs looming around the corner,” Pierce said. “We got to be more solid, we got to be more consistent in everything we do.”
One loss certainly doesn’t erase the remarkable turnaround the Nets have undergone in 2014, which has them 23-10 since the new year began, better than any team in the East.
But it does serve as a reminder that, with exactly a month left to go before the regular season draws to a close, getting a matchup with Indiana or Miami, which everyone is waiting for, is no sure thing.
“It felt like a playoff game,” Deron Williams said.
“We just lost it.”