WASHINGTON — The Nets juggled their lineup to solve their slow starts, but it was their sorry defense and sad play near the end that did them in.
They suffered a humbling 110-104 defeat to the woebegone Wizards before 16,825 at Capital One Arena, falling to one of the worst teams in the league.
“We’re just not good right now,” Mikal Bridges said, “and we’ve just got to be better.”
On Friday night, the Nets (15-17) were the worst team on the floor — at least when it mattered.
Despite coach Jacque Vaughn’s lineup switch of putting Dorian Finney-Smith in for Cam Thomas seemingly working — the Nets led by nine points in the third quarter, and 97-96 with 5:24 left — they surrendered up a 7-0 run.
That proved enough.
The Nets never recovered, tipping off a four-game road trip in the worst way imaginable.
They were outscored 26-18 in a fourth quarter that saw them make just 5 of 23 from the floor. And as amazing as it sounds, their defensive performance might have been even worse Friday night.
They allowed 50.5 percent shooting and forced just seven turnovers. They let a Wizards team that had dropped 11 of 13 get comfortable.
And it’s because they looked so complacent themselves.
“Our ability to do our jobs, every single possession we’re still learning that. And that’s a task for this group,” Vaughn said. “We’ve got to go into every game with a sense of desperation no matter who we’re playing, and not be cool and not throw behind the back passes when you don’t need to and take advantage of every single possession. And we’re not doing that.”
The Nets had no choice but to agree.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Cam Johnson conceded. “They were just too comfortable; too comfortable settling for shots they wanted.”
Bridges had a team-high 19 points, while Spencer Dinwiddie added 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Thomas scored 15 off the bench.
But they couldn’t slow Kyle Kuzma (game-high 26) or Deni Avdija (21).
“Stretches we go on, we play well. We look like a really good team then we have stretches where we look like a really bad team,” Thomas said. “We have stretches we’ve looked really good, and stretches we look really bad. Just call it how it is. Just gotta stay consistent. That’s really the main thing; staying consistent as a team. And if the other team does go on a run, we can’t really start pointing fingers or getting down.
“This is the NBA. Everybody is going to go on a run whether we want them to or not. It is what it is. They’re going to go on a run, so we’ve just got to stick together as a team and stay consistent throughout the game.”
The Nets trailed just 54-53 at the break, and came back out of the locker room with a 12-2 run.
They held Washington to 1 of 6 shooting, along with Daniel Gafford’s turnover and technical. The latter handed Johnson a free throw to cap the blitz and give them a 65-56 lead with 8:20 left in the third.
But in keeping with their recent play, it was a lead the Nets couldn’t hold onto. They’ve lost seven of nine, with one of the league’s worst defenses in that skid.
Mike Muscala’s 3-pointer put Washington back ahead at 87-86, and Delon Wright made it 89-86.
Bridges knotted it, and the Nets led again 97-96 after Dinwiddie’s free throws with 5:39 to play. But that’s when they surrendered the game-deciding run.
Kuzma hit a jumper, and former Net Landry Shamet got free for an and-one. After Bridges missed a midrange jumper, Nic Claxton blocked a Kuzma layup attempt, but the Wizards forward retrieved the loose ball for a putback and a 103-97 lead.
A Kuzma 3-pointer padded it to 108-101, and the Nets never challenged again.
“They played harder than us in the end of the third and that fourth,” Bridges said. “That’s where they got it.”
