Game Previews

Struggling Nets look to end five-game losing streak against John Wall and the Wizards

By Anthony Parisi Apr 6, 2016, 7:08am EDT

The remainder of this Nets season is not about winning basketball games. It's about watching the younger players and seeing who can earn a roster spot beyond this season. Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young are shut down for the season and Bojan Bogdanovic hasn't played much as of late either (although he is listed as a probable starter on the Nets game notes tonight.)

The losses continue to pile up for the Nets. They've now lost five games in a row after beating the Cavaliers and Pacers in back-to-back games. Next up is a Wizards team whose playoff hopes are all but finished. Washington is currently four games out of the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference with five games remaining.

Washington will need a whole lot of luck to make it into the playoffs. They need to win their remaining five games and hope that Detroit loses their last four games. However, Chicago is in between Detroit and Washington in the standings so it makes Washington's playoff hopes all but impossible.

Where to follow the game?

The game is NOT on YES Network tonight, it's being aired on alternate locations due to the Yankees game. To find out where to follow the game click here. Tip off is just after 7:00 PM.

Injuries

The Nets are without Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young for the remainder of season due to rest and Jarrett Jack remains out with a torn ACL.

For the Wizards, former Net Alan Anderson is out with groin strain.

The game

2015-2016	Brooklyn	Washington
Record	21-56	37-40
Pace	97.2	100.5
Offensive Efficiency	100.9	102.5
Defensive Efficiency	107.8	103.7
Turnover Rate	13.9	13.2
Assist Rate	17.0	18.1
Offensive Rebounding Rate	24.2	20.5
Rebound Rate	49.8	48.4
Free Throw Rate	24.7	26.1
Effective Field Goal Percentage	49.2	50.9
Opponent's Effective Field Goal Percentage	53.1	51.8

Previous matchup

On December 26th, Washington beat the Nets 111-96 at Barclays Center. The team's face off two more times this year including tonight.

Player to watch: John Wall

Wall and the Wizards failed to live up to expectations this season in large part due to various injuries. Wall is having himself a solid season statistically putting up 19.9 points per game to go along with 10.2 assists and 4.9 rebounds.

Wall has always been a great ball handler and passer, but his biggest weakness throughout his NBA career has been his jump shot. For his career, Wall is shooting 31.9 percent from three-point range, this year he's shooting 35.1 percent.

If the Nets let Wall and the Wizards run out in transition it can be a very long night in the nation's capital. Wall is one of the fastest NBA players and he's very difficult to stop from attacking the rim.

Here's some of Wall's best plays from this season showing what the Nets need to watch out for tonight.

Nets X-factor: Thomas Robinson

Thomas Robinson is as hot as anybody on the Nets roster right now. Over the past four games, T-Rob is averaging 13.3 points and 12.8 rebounds in 27 minutes per game. It's a small sample, but to Robinson it's something that can become a routine if given these minutes consistently.

"It's about time I become a 20-plus minute player," Robinson said after Sunday's game. "I haven't played over 13 minutes my whole career. To me, It's BS. But I'm trying to put out there that it's about time I become a 20-minute plus player."

Robinson will have these last five games of the season to prove even further that if given the minutes he will produce. In eight games that Robinson has played in over 20 minutes this season, he's recorded a double-double in six of those games.

T-Rob has a player option that he's likely going to decline so the remainder of this season is going to be very important to him. He has a chance to push his value up.

Wizards X-factor: Otto Porter Jr.

Porter's third NBA season has been his best. Porter is scoring 11.8 points, grabbing 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 47 percent from the field. All of those numbers are career highs for Porter who is taking advantage of his insertion into the starting lineup.

Washington had high expectations for Porter when they drafted him out of Georgetown, but so far he has failed to live up to them. Porter, 22 is still young with a chance to improve even more so there's still a chance that he can be an important part of Washington's future.

Here's highlights from one of Porter's best games of the season. He shows off most of the repertoire in these highlights.

From the vault

In a game where Deron Williams hit 11 three-pointers, Reggie Evans poor free throw shooting managed to temporarily steal the show. Reggie Evans hitting a free throw managed to make Barclays Center as loud as its been this entire season.