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John Wall reminds Nets what could've been; Wiz beat Nets, 111-96

By Anthony Puccio
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- Remember when the Nets went 12-70 and were supposed to land John Wall in the draft? Instead they lost the lottery, drafted Derrick Favors and traded him for Deron Williams.

That's where we're at today.

John Wall went off for 22 points and 13 assists Saturday and pushed the Nets to their second straight loss, 111-96, to the depleted Washington Wizards at Barclays Center. The Wizards were missing key players, starting with Bradley Beal and Nene.

They're now 8-22 on the season and have lost their last six home games.

You ready for a familiar story?

It was a close battle throughout the the first three quarters with the Nets entering the fourth quarter down two.

The Wizards tuned it up to a whole new level and went on a 16-2 run late in the fourth quarter. They were up 19 with under four minutes remaining, and outscored the Nets 32-19. In his NBA debut, Jarrell Eddie scored 12 points off the bench, all in the fourth quarter. The Nets committed nine turnovers in the quarter which essentially sparked the Wizards big run.

"I don't think we did a good job really of adjusting to what they were doing," Lopez said of the fourth quarter meltdown. "It kind of just fell apart from there. They got hot and kept going."

The Nets' bench was outscored 40-23 with Jarrell Eddie (12 points) and Kris Humphries (10 points) giving them a nice boost.

Brook Lopez finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, but was held to just six points in the final quarter. Jarrett Jack had a decent game with 15 points and 11 assists, but turned the ball over four times.

As a whole, the Nets committed 19 turnovers compared to 24 assists. On the flip side, Washington turned it over 11 times and dished out 31 assists.

Once again, Thaddeus Young finished with a double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds. He finished with a double-double by the end of the first half!

At this point, it's an expectation for Thad to finish with double digit points and double digit rebound, and then some more. While the Nets haven't offered much excitement, Thad Young continues to play like a warrior night in and night out.

Meanwhile, Bojan Bogdanovic continued his hot streak since being inserted into the starting lineup. He scored 14 points and has hit 7 of his last 11 threes dating back to Wednesday vs. Dallas. He's also scored in double digits eight times since Rondae Hollis-Jefferson went down.

Another game, another loss. The Nets continue to prove themselves as a big tease, competing in games for the first half and then falling way short in the second half. They'll face the Miami Heat on Monday night.

"We're the team we are at the moment," Hollins said of the Nets being 14 games under .500. "We're struggling to get better. We have starts of moving forward and then we have lags where we go backwards."

DID NOT PLAY: Bradley Beal, Nene, Drew Gooden, Gary Neal and Alan Anderson.

For more on the Wizards, check them out at Bullets Forever.

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