Bridges scores 27 points, helps Nets recover after blowing big lead to beat Wizards 102-94

Mikal Bridges’ shot was off, two fellow starters just got back and two others are still out.

With an understandably spotty offense, the only way the Brooklyn Nets were going to win a game they were on the verge of letting get away was with their defense.

“There was just no other way,” Bridges said. “You’ve got to win and we were down, so you’ve got to get stops to win and we just locked in and pulled it through.”

Bridges had 27 points and 13 rebounds, and the Nets recovered after blowing a 17-point lead to beat the Washington Wizards 102-94 on Sunday.

Cam Johnson added 14 points and starting center Nic Claxton, in just his second game of the season, had 10 points and 13 rebounds to spark a huge rebounding advantage and help the Nets finish strong after they had coughed up the lead.

Bridges shot just 11 for 29 but turned to his defense for one of the biggest plays of the game, a steal that led to his layup that tied it at 92 with 2:27 to play.

He followed with the next three points as part of a 15-0 run that turned Brooklyn’s five-point deficit into a 102-92 lead.

“I think we did a great job of getting back in the game and just playing with hustle and energy and heart, and we just fell apart a little bit,” forward Kyle Kuzma said. “I think our next step is just figuring what we want to do at the end of the games. Obviously we had a bunch of turnovers and we really didn’t have any direction out there.”

Rookie Bilal Coulibaly, Victor Wembanyama’s teammate last season in France, had a season-high 20 points for the Wizards, who fell to 2-7.

Brooklyn outrebounded Washington 66-42.

The Wizards led by two with 2 1/2 minutes to play, but committed three turnovers in the next 45 seconds.

Claxton had missed eight games with a sprained left ankle, and Johnson was…