Nets reaction: Brooklyn bounces back with win over the Wizards

The Brooklyn Nets are back to their winning ways. After dropping a game to the Orlando Magic on Friday night in heartbreaking fashion, they bounced right back against the Washington Wizards, defeating them 113-106 for the first time these season. Brooklyn lost their first two matchups prior to entering this game.

Kyrie Irving and James Harden were magnificent. Irving finished with 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists while the Beard ended with 26 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds. Blake Griffin, although he didn’t have a huge scoring outing, still made his presence known with his first dunk since December 12, 2019 as he continues to ease back into basketball activities again.

The defense for Brooklyn is improving

Brooklyn forced 19 turnovers in their Sunday matchup with the Wizards. Compared to instances seen in the beginning of the season, this is a big improvement. The fact that it is still only March with plenty of games left to go, there is still more time for squad to build more chemistry defensively. To put the icing on the cake, Kevin Durant - who has improved his defense tremendously because of his years in Golden State - is only going to strengthen Brooklyn's defense whenever he returns.

Brooklyn's pieces are coming together

Nets GM Sean Marks' decision to pick up Blake Griffin could be the move of the season. It's a game changer for the Nets as he adds a high defensive I.Q, a high offensive I.Q, and just another option to add on to Brooklyn's elite offense. Still, with Kevin Durant out, the team still manage to score more than 110 points almost every game which puts so much pressure on teams to keep up. Especially defensive teams who don't have the same abilities offensively. https://twitter.com/BrooklynNets/status/1373813680156995584

The bench continues to come through for the Nets

The Nets have been getting production from various different players this season. Bruce Brown is one that really stands out for the season, he's been averaging 8.3 points on 55% shooting. He ended the game against the Wizards with his regular 8 points. Nic Claxton, the sophomore, has also been finding his groove. He had himself a night too with 16 points and 3 rebounds. The latest addition to the bench, Blake Griffin, had fun all game during his debut, finishing with 2 points and 2 rebounds in 14 minutes. His I.Q shined as he was finding players in their spots and just simply playing off of his energy. It seems like it's safe to say the Brooklyn's bench is reliable now.

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