Washington Wizards (19-40) @ Brooklyn Nets (35-26)

Barclays Center 7:30

TV: YES – RADIO: WFAN 660 AM/101.9 FM

The Brooklyn Nets are coming off a road win where they came back late to beat the Charlotte Bobcats 99-78 on Wednesday night.  The game was hard to watch as the Nets shot 36 percent in the first half and were down 10 points to the worst team in the league.  That all changed in the second half when they woke up and played defense while shooting a torrid 64 percent from the field to outscore the Bobcats 56-25 to earn the victory.

Deron Williams has scored at least 20 points in four of his last five games and had 20 points and eight assists in the victory.   Joe Johnson came out of his funk with 22 points and tied a season high with five 3-pointers.  The Nets are 4-1 when both Williams and Johnson score 2o or more points this year.

[blockquote]”Once they get going, they’re going to keep going,” Brook Lopez said. “It opens up a ton of driving lanes and makes everything easier for everybody.”[/blockquote]

The Washington Wizards come to town with the worst road record in the NBA at 5-23.  They have struggled lately without rookie shooting guard Bradley Beal, out with sprained ankle, and have gone 2-6 without him.  The Wizards started to play much better with the return of John Wall and had a winning month in February when they compiled a 7-5 record.

This will be the third time this year these two teams have met, both winning one game.  The last time the Wizards played Brooklyn they defeated the Nets, 89-74, on February 8th at Verizon Center.  Nene led the Wizards with 20 points and 11 rebounds while Martell Webster scored 16 points on 6-of-9 from the field.  The two will play one more time before the season is over on April 15th in Brooklyn.

The Nets need to come out stronger in this game or the Wizards will run them out of the building behind Wall and company.  Washington will not score only 25 points in the second half like Charlotte did but they do turn the ball over at an alarming rate which could bode well for them without Beal playing.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME: Brook Lopez vs Nene

Nene is averaging 20 points and 8.5 rebounds in two games versus the Nets this season and seems comfortable playing the Nets big man Brook Lopez.  Lopez shot horribly in the last meeting hitting on only 3-11 from the field to score 13 points and grab eight rebounds. The Nets win in Double-OT in January was one of Lopez’s best game with 27 points and 13 rebounds so he will have to be a bigger presence tonight for the Nets to stay with the resurgent Wizards.

STAT FOR TONIGHT: The Nets are 13-2 when Joe Johnson scores 20 or more points this season.  Andray Blatche faces his old team for the third time this year.

Nets:

None

Wizards: