Nets Bojan Bogdanovic forces overtime, but Wizards pull off 114-110 win in OT

Another close game resulted in yet another loss for the Brooklyn Nets, as they fell short 114-110 in overtime to the Washington Wizards. In front of a packed crowd of 15,529 at the Barclays center, fans watched as their Nets failed to hold it together in the final minutes of the game.

The Wizards, led by John Wall (25 points) and Bradley Beal (18 points) handed the Nets their 11th straight loss.

The Nets played a decent first half, leading the Wizards 66-51 at halftime. They shot 56.5 from the field and only turned the ball over seven times before entering the third quarter.

But like the Nets’ normal routine, they struggled to maintain momentum, blowing a 15-point lead. The Wizards were able to snap a 28-8 run in the third quarter.

“Their aggressiveness got to us and we started playing a different game,” said Brook Lopez, who finished with 25 points. “Obviously between that run and the turnovers down the line, it hurt us. We were playing well, doing our thing. But obviously, the second half was inversely just as rough.”

By the fourth quarter, Brooklyn trailed by 12 points, while the Wizards gained an 84-72 lead. The Nets didn’t go down without a fight and tied the game up at 89 with 6:21 left in the game. Things got messy when Lopez fouled out the game with 1:20 left in the fourth. With 41.9 seconds left in the game, Bojan Bogdanovic kept hope alive for Brooklyn with a backboard shot to force the game into overtime at 100 points even.

The Nets tried. They fought again, but it wasn’t enough, losing in overtime.

After the game, Lopez reflected on the call that took him out of the game.

“To make that call at that juncture, I don’t agree with it,” said Lopez.

Nets coach Kenny Atkinson praised his guys for fighting until the end.

“We made some really unselfish defensive plays at the end — guys flying around, guys taking charges — so there were a lot of positives,” Atkinson said during a postgame presser.

The Nets are now 9-44 and are the worst team in the NBA. They are the only team in the league who has won less than 10 games. With 29 games left of the 2016-2017 season, they can now put their focus on how they can rebuild their team for next year.