The Washington Wizards (40-41) defeated the Brooklyn Nets (21-60) on the road Monday night at Barclays Center, 120-111.
The Wizards opened the game with an explosive 20-0 run in the first 4:09 of the game, but the Nets slowly crawled their way back, as they closed the gap to just 70-69 at halftime. Brooklyn took their first lead at 80-79 in the third quarter, but the Wizards hung around and eventually pulled away with great deffense in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn managed just 13 points in the final frame after scoring 98 in the first three quarters, as the Wizards took a 112-102 lead with 6:13 to go in the game and coasted from there.
With John Wall and Bradley Beal inactive, Ramon Sessions posted game highs with 21 points (7-10 FG, 7-7 FT) and 12 assists. Marcus Thornton (7-15 FG) scored 19 and J.J. Hickson added 15 points off the bench. Washington shot a robust 51.7 percent from the floor and notched 27 assists against 14 turnovers as their offense was humming all night.
Bojan Bogdanovic (8-13 FG, 3-6 3PT) and Shane Larkin (9-13 FG, 2-4 3PT) led the Nets with 20 points apiece as Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young continue to sit out with the Nets' season long over. Sean Kilpatrick came off the bench to score 17 points (6-15 FG, 2-7 3PT, 3-5 FT) in 30 minutes, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 14 points in 23 minutes. The Nets shot just 44.9 percent and had nine shots blocked as their offense clearly missed Lopez's gigantic presence.
The Wizards host the Hawks in their season finale Wednesday. The Nets close out with a home matchup Wednesday against Toronto.
