WASHINGTON _ It's often said the NBA is a "make-or-miss league," and for the better part of 44 minutes, the Nets were badly off target from 3-point range. But they kept firing, and in the final four minutes, they made five 3s in a 23-12 run that wiped out an 11-point deficit when Quincy Acy nailed a tying 3-pointer with 9.1 seconds left in regulation.
But in the overtime session, the Nets reverted to their earlier form, missing all six 3-point attempts as John Wall and Bradley Beal combined to help the Wizards pull out a 119-113 victory Saturday night at Capital One Arena. Wall had 23 points and 16 assists, Beal added 24 points, and the two combined for nine of the Wizards' 12 overtime points.
The Wizards led by as many as 23 points in the first half and were a vastly more efficient 10 of 23 from 3-point range. Through 44 minutes, the Nets were just 7 of 31 above the arc before they flipped the switch, but they finished shooting 27.9 percent from 3 (12 of 43).
The Nets (16-27) had seven players score in double figures topped by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson with 23, Jarrett Allen with 16 points and DeMarre Carroll with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Despite cutting the deficit to three late in the third period, the Nets trailed by nine starting the fourth. Their odds of pulling off the miracle comeback improved considerably when Joe Harris converted a four-point play at the outset of the final period to get within five points, but the Wizards regained control, pushing their lead back to 95-84.
That's where the Nets kicked into gear when Allen Crabbe hit three straight 3s and Spencer Dinwiddie added a fourth before a dunk by Caris LeVert cut the Wizards' lead to 105-104 with 1:45 left in regulation. Two fouls shots by Wall with 16 seconds left made it a three-point game, but Acy rebounded a 3-point miss by Dinwiddie, stepped behind the line and drained it to send the game to overtime after Wall missed a shot before the buzzer.
In overtime, the Nets once again couldn't buy a basket, trailing 116-113 when Hollis-Jefferson made their first field goal of OT with 34.8 seconds to go. But Wall buried a jumper for a 118-113 cushion with 16.6 seconds showing.
Both teams were on the second night of a back-to-back set, but the Nets were missing starting center Tyler Zeller, who suffered a sore left hip during their win Friday night in Atlanta. Still, they were hopeful not only of winning both games on their road trip but of completing a season sweep of the Wizards, who lost two previous games in Brooklyn.
Atkinson went small to start with Acy at center, and the Wizards opened the game with a 20-4 run as the Nets shot 2 of 12 from the field with one turnover. The Nets trailed by 20 before putting together a 16-7 run that included three dunks by Allen to cut the deficit to 11 in the second quarter.
But the Wizards' Kelly Oubre Jr. scored six points in a 10-0 Wizards burst that pushed their lead to 47-26, and they led by as much as 23 points before settling for a 59-39 halftime advantage. Although the Nets made just one of their first seven shots of the third quarter, they tightened defensively and put together a 14-4 run, including six points from Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to pull within 10 points.
Later in the third quarter, the Nets scored on six of seven possessions to put together a 14-2 run that cut the Wizards' lead to 70-67 when Joe Harris made a pair of foul shots with 2:40 left in the period. But the Wizards finished the period on a 13-7 run that included two 3s by Oubre, the last one barely beating the buzzer for a more comfortable 83-74 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
