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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
WASHINGTON (AP) – At 20 games below .500, the New Jersey Nets
should have known better than to take any team for granted.
|  | | Wizards center Jahidi White, rear, and Nets forward Keith Van Horn battle for a loose ball. |
Saturday night, they took the Washington Wizards for granted.
Now they're 21 below.
One night after beating the New York Knicks, the Nets blew a
14-point first-half lead and allowed the Wizards to break a
six-game home losing streak with a 107-101 victory.
"Obviously we haven't matured very much," coach Byron Scott
said. "For most of our guys, the win last night was more important
than coming out here and trying to get something started in a
positive way. Overall, we were just soft. Mentally, we were soft.
Physically, we were soft. There was no intensity like there was
last night.
"We played to the level of the competition. We come in here
thinking this is the Washington Wizards, we're going to win, all we
have to do is step on the court. It doesn't happen that way. We
took these guys for granted and got what we deserved."
The Wizards played perhaps their worst game of the season the
night before, losing 104-72 at Boston. They were the only team the
Nets had dominated this season, losing the three previous meetings
by double digits.
More of the same appeared imminent when New Jersey opened with a
13-1 run. With the score 22-11, Washington coach Leonard Hamilton
replaced his entire starting lineup and later barked: "If you
don't guard nobody, you ain't playin'."
It worked. Led by recently acquired Christian Laettner, who
didn't play in any of those earlier losses to the Nets, the backups
stopped the onslaught and made it a close game by halftime.
"In the second half I think everyone responded, the starters
that were subbed for came out and did a great job," said Laettner,
who had 20 points at the half. "Hopefully we'll start having a
recipe for where we can do it every game, just not one out of every
four or five games. Just so we can make the games competitive at
least."
Laettner finished with a season-high 26 points and 11 rebounds.
Richard Hamilton scored 25 points and Mitch Richmond had 21 as the
Wizards beat an Atlantic Division team for only the second time in
20 tries this season.
Kenyon Martin scored 21 points and Stephon Marbury had 20 points
and 12 assists for the Nets, who made just one field goal and one
free throw over the final 4:17.
With the score tied 99-99, New Jersey's Johnny Newman missed a
jumper and Richmond threw the long outlet pass to Hamilton for a
breakaway dunk with 58.9 seconds remaining.
Martin then missed an open baseline jumper and Laettner got the
rebound. Hubert Davis missed a one-hander at the other end, but
Jahidi White dunked in the rebound with 23.6 to go to make it
103-99.
Martin hit a 15-footer to close the deficit back to two. But
Hamilton and Davis each hit two free throws in the final seconds to
seal the victory as the Wizards were sent off the court with a rare
standing ovation.
Trailing 59-57 at halftime, the Wizards took their first lead on
a 10-0 run led by Richmond, who scored eight straight points. His
two free throws put Washington up 71-69 with 4:25 to go in the
third.
The teams traded the lead for several minutes. Sherman Douglas
scored all the points in a 7-0 run that put New Jersey ahead 98-94
with 4:17 remaining, but the Nets would score only three more
points the rest of the way.
"We looked at Washington and their record," Douglas said.
"And we weren't as focused as we were against New York."
Game notes
New Jersey's Lucious Harris missed his second straight game
with a strained right calf. ... Wizards forward Loy Vaught missed
the game with the flu. ... Locker room contrast: Before the game,
the Nets had a scout tape of the Wizards on the VCR while the
Wizards were watching the Maryland-Duke college basketball game.
... New Jersey backup forward Aaron Williams fouled out with 7:56
remaining, having played just 15 minutes. Starting center Evan
Eschmeyer was gone with 1:59 to play. ... Newman had 11 rebounds to
match his career high. ... The Nets shot 64 percent in the first
quarter, while the Wizards shot 62 percent in the second quarter.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
New Jersey Clubhouse
Washington Clubhouse
RECAPS
Washington 107
New Jersey 101
Atlanta 93
Chicago 90
Charlotte 100
Milwaukee 90
Orlando 105
Minnesota 93
Houston 86
Golden State 81
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