NEW YORK _ The art of the blowout so far has escaped the Nets, but they are making undeniable progress. They let a 16-point lead slip to four with more than four minutes left, but they showed they are getting more adept at closing. The Nets got to the foul line and got eight late points from Joe Harris to restore a comfortable cushion on their way to a 125-118 victory Friday night at Barclays Center. That gave them a season-high winning streak of four games.
The Nets' bugaboo of blowing double-digit leads reared its head early in the fourth quarter when the Wizards put together a 17-5 run to cut a 16-point deficit to 108-104 when Bradley Beal hit a jumper with 5:33 left. Markieff Morris, who had a huge fourth quarter when the Wizards defeated the Nets recently in Washington, had eight points in that surge, while Beal had nine.
The Nets got to the foul line to start a 12-3 run with Harris scoring the final eight points, including a pair of 3s to give them a 125-112 advantage at the 1:07 mark.
Spencer Dinwiddie led six Nets (12-18) in double figures with 27 points and six assists off the bench. Harris added 19 points, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and rookie Rodions Kurucs each scored 15. The Nets had a whopping 46-25 rebounding advantage that made all the difference. Beal topped the Wizards (11-18) with 31 points and nine assists, and John Wall added 17 points and 13 assists.
Kurucs made his first start for the Nets in place of Allen Crabbe (right knee soreness), who sat out with what coach Kenny Atkinson described as a minor injury. Showing the energy he displayed in the Nets' victory Wednesday in Philadelphia, Kurucs opened the scoring as they jumped to a quick 7-0 lead, but the defense was non-existent as the Wizards shot 59.1 percent to build a 31-27 first-period lead.
The second unit fueled a Nets comeback in the second period to take a 70-59 halftime lead. Dinwiddie, who agreed to a three-year extension worth $34.3 million Thursday, scored 11 of his 13 first-half points in the period, and DeMarre Carroll added 12 points as the Nets pushed their lead as high as 14 points at one stage.
The Wizards drew within six points midway through the third quarter, but there was no stopping the Nets' offense. Kurucs scored seven straight points to trigger an extended 21-11 run that included nine points by Dinwiddie to push the Nets' lead to 16 points at 101-85 at the end of the period.
