High-jumping Nets rookie Noah Clowney should see significant playing time again when Brooklyn finishes off its four-game road trip in Washington, D.C. Wednesday. AP Photo by Peter K. Afriyie
The Nets feasted on a late-night dinner in Toronto following their first win in seven games Monday night.
They’d like to continue feeding their hunger for wins Wednesday, when they visit the streaking Washington Wizards at the Capital One Center in the finale of a four-game road trip.
“We’re going to get a nice team dinner, wine is gonna take a little bit better and then we’re gonna get there and go to Washington tomorrow,” Nets interim coach Kevin Ollie revealed after Brooklyn ended a season-high six-game skid with a grind-it-out 96-88 triumph over the Raptors.
The Nets (27-45) only have 10 games left to somehow reel in the 10th-place Atlanta Hawks (32-39) for the final spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.
Though it finally got back in the win column Monday after nearly two weeks, Brooklyn couldn’t catch a break in the standings.
The Hawks miraculously overcame a 30-point deficit against NBA-best Boston Monday in Atlanta, pulling out a 120-118 triumph that left the Nets 5 1/2 games behind.
Without seven regulars, including four starters, Toronto was hardly a formidable opponent as the Nets posted their lowest-scoring win of the year.
But Ollie didn’t have leading scorer Cam Thomas due to lower-back stiffness and what he described as spasms. Also, Brooklyn was missing back-up guard Dennis Smith Jr., starting forward Cam Johnson (toe) and Keita Bates-Diop (shin).
Fortunately, the Nets’ younger, and somewhat taller and more energetic, lineup was up to the task of filling in.
Second-year forward Trendon Watford scored a season-high 19 points, 11 of which came in the second quarter. He also pulled down seven of Brooklyn’s 50 rebounds, helping his team to a 20-board advantage against the short-handed Raptors.
Nic Claxton fell one shy of his…
Read the full article here