Blake Griffin didn’t score until the fourth quarter, but when he did, he did it with a bang.
In his first game since signing as a free agent with the Nets, Griffin blew by Wizards big man Robin Lopez down the middle of the lane and threw down a two-handed stuff that got both the Nets bench and Barclays Center fans off their feet.
The dunk was his only basket of the day but it signaled to the basketball world just how much better the Nets stand to improve by adding a fully healthy Griffin to an already star-studded roster. He only scored two points but was a plus-12 in 15 minutes as the Nets ran away with a 113-106 victory, their 15th win in 17 games.
Griffin only scored once but found other ways to impact the game. On his first possession he recorded a screen assist with an off-ball screen to free Tyler Johnson for an open corner three. On the next possession, he guarded WIzards All-Star Bradley Beal and finished with a block on the play. Shortly after, Griffin recorded a hockey assist out of the high post, finding a teammate who then found the open cutter.
Nets head coach Steve Nash said there would be a minutes restriction on Griffin, and that limit was ostensibly the 15-minute mark. Griffin looked like he had more in the tank, but the Nets opted to take the proper precautions.
“We’re excited to have him back and excited to incorporate him into our team, but we’ll be sure we’re cautious with not overloading him early on here,” Nash said pregame. “It is kind of a reintroduction to playing and to our team, so I’m not going to say what that is. But we’ll definitely be cautious to not overextend him.”
Griffin looked good in his 15 minutes, but it takes a full 48 to win a game.
The Nets found themselves in an early 20-6 first-quarter hole but ended the period down just five. They orchestrated a 24-point swing to take a 10-point lead in the second quarter and force the Wizards into three timeouts in the first half. Kyrie Irving and James Harden each posted suboptimal shooting nights but combined for 54 points, and second-year forward Nic Claxton continues his upward swing.
Claxton came off the bench and played 26 minutes, closing the game in the fourth quarter with both Griffin and DeAndre Jordan on the bench. He finished with 16 points, three rebounds and three blocks, including one on Beal, and shot 7-of-10 from the field.
The Nets played their last game at Barclays Center for a week. They will hit the road for a three-game trip: at Portland, Utah and Detroit before returning to Brooklyn on March 29 for a matchup against D’Angelo Russell and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
