Washington Wizards (29-51) @ Brooklyn Nets (47-33)

Barclays Center 7:30

TV: YES – RADIO: Bloomberg 1130AM

The Brooklyn Nets cemented their playoff seed yesterday with a bad loss to the Toronto Raptors in their building 93-87 and will now be the four seed.  The Nets will face the Chicago Bulls or the Atlanta Hawks in the first round with the loss as they cannot attain the three seed even though Indiana lost.

The Raptors played well, as they have of late,  and the Nets could not stop DeMar Derozan, 36 points, from pouring in the jump-shots and keeping the Nets at bay.  The Raptors lead grew to 19 points at halftime with another clunker second quarter by Brooklyn.  This time the Nets were outscored 27-12 in the second and didn’t look too intent on gaining the third seed.  They came out of the lockerrom and made a run and got the gamer to within a single basket in the fourth only to miss open 3-pointers late while the Raptors hit their free throws.

[blockquote]”We don’t know whether we’re playing Chicago or Atlanta but there’s finality for the fourth spot,” Carlesimo said. “That’s a good thing going forward.”  Carlesimo said his staff will discuss resting players over the final two games. “We don’t need to get anybody hurt,” he said. “We’re not playing for anything. Going forward now we’ve certainly got to rest some people.”[/blockquote]

We all remember what happened the last time the Wizards came to Brooklyn – NBA Record 9 first half 3-pointers and a total 11 3-pointers for Deron Williams.  He also became the first player in a decade to match the opposing team’s score at halftime – 33 points.

The Wizards are looking to keep things rolling a bit as they end their season without a playoff berth once again.  The team has played much better since their leader John Wall returned from injury midway through the season.  The team has come together a bit and the pieces with Nene and Bradley Beal show the Wizards future is bright.  They would love to knock off the Nets tonight at Barclays even though Brooklyn is likely to rest the big name players with the fourth seed locked up.

BLACKOUT IN BROOKLYN:  During the Nets playoff run, Brooklynites across the borough and fans attending games at Barclays Center are encouraged to wear black, one of the team’s colors, to represent Brooklyn’s pride, boldness, and strength. Black will be featured throughout the venue with specially designed décor and foods, including black and white popcorn, black pastas, and chocolate desserts.

01/04 – BKN 115 @ WAS 113

02/08 – BKN 74 @ WAS 89

03/08 – WAS 78 @ BKN 95

04/15 – WAS @ BKN

MATCHUP OF THE GAME: Brook Lopez  vs  Nene

Brook Lopez has been playing verywell lately until the last game in Toronto where he couldn’t hit anything at all and it hurt the Nets badly.  The big man was 1-7 at half and did not look good at all.  The second half began with Lopez firing away and scoring on five baskets in the third for 12 points and help bring the Nets back.  Lopez has played well vs the Wizards this year scoring 27 points and grabbing 13 rebounds  in the Nets double-overtime win in the first game.  The second game he was outplayed by Nene 20-to-13 on 3 for 13 shooting. Lopez did not have to do much in the last meeting other than watch Williams shoot the lights out at Barclays and rebound when needed.

STAT FOR TONIGHT: The Nets have won 47 games on the season and are on pace to win 48 games, which would be the fifth – most in NBA franchise history. The last time the franchise won as many as 48 games was 2005-06

Gerald Wallace (leg contusion ) is OUT

Wizards: