Here are three thoughts on the Nets’ 102-80 victory over the Wizards Friday night:
1. No one can say Brook Lopez isn’t a professional. Given everything swirling around him over the 24 hours ahead of Friday’s game, including it seemingly likely at more than one point that his time with the Nets had come to an end, the fact he came out and scored 25 points in the second half to carry the Nets to a win that snapped their seven-game losing streak in emphatic and stunning fashion.
It was a remarkable performance, and one that showed off what Lopez is capable of when he’s on. Washington has a terrific pair of big men in Marcin Gortat and Nene, and Lopez did whatever he wanted against each of them.
But no one summed up his performance – and the motivation behind it – better than Lionel Hollins.
“You guys think he played well because he had 26 points,” Hollins said. “But I thought he played well because he came out there and played with a lot of fire and sense of urgency, and he was free.
“That’s the way I’d like to see him play.”
Hollins was right – Lopez was motivated and playing with a chip on his shoulder, and it showed. He’s always been proud to be a Net, and looked like he wanted to stay one with the way he played against the Wizards. We’ll see if he does – it still seems like the most likely outcome is he’s dealt by the time the deadline passes in a month – but if he keeps playing like this it’ll make the Nets either get a better package back or have a much tougher decision to make.
2. Almost as surprising as the way the Nets played Friday night was the way Jarrett Jack dominated his individual matchup with John Wall. If there was anything you would’ve expected coming into the game, it would be that Wall – arguably the fastest player in the league, and making a case to be the best point guard in the league with his play this season – would have his way with Jack, who’d been struggling recently.
But Jack was sensational in this one, finishing with 26 points, six rebounds and seven assists, easily outplaying Wall. The best thing about Jack’s game? He stopped shooting so many 3-pointers – something he’s had no luck doing this season – and instead focused on getting into the lane and getting his floater going, and the Wizards couldn’t stop him.
The Nets still need Deron Williams to come back as soon as possible from his fractured rib cartilage, but it would help if Jack could string a few performances like this in a row.
3. Bojan Bogdanovic once again finished in double figures in this one, finishing with 12 points and five rebounds in 31 minutes in his fourth straight game since returning to the starting lineup.
Once again, Bogdanovic didn’t do his damage from behind the 3-point arc, missing his only attempt, but he again did a nice job of finding holes in the defense for open layups, as well as getting out in transition and either finishing or drawing fouls.
Even if Bogdanovic can’t get his 3-point shooting back on track, for a team that needs scoring as much as the Nets do right now him giving them a solid double-digit scoring output every night is more than enough for him to remain in the starting five moving forward.