Brooklyn Nets: Player grades from win No. 4 in a row over Wizards

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The Brooklyn Nets on Friday won their 4th game in a row, handing the Washington Wizards their 4th consecutive loss in the process with a 125-118 victory.

The Brooklyn Nets are starting to put things together on a consistent basis, winning their fourth straight game Friday with a 125-118 victory over the Washington Wizards at Barclays Center.

The Nets (12-18) shot better than 50 percent for the second consecutive game, hitting 52.4 percent of their attempts (44-for-84), while setting season-highs for points in a quarter (43 in the second period) and in a first half (70), as well as assists (34).

Brooklyn led by as much as 16 points in the fourth quarter before the Wizards (11-18) made it interesting, closing twice to within four points in the final five minutes.

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The Nets avoided any last-minute drama by putting together a game-clinching 12-3 run that was capped by Joe Harris‘ 3-pointer from above the break with 1:08 remaining.

Brooklyn absolutely annihilated the Wizards on the glass, outrebounding Washington by a 46-25 margin. That plus-21 margin marked the largest for the Nets in a game since, coincidentally, a 119-84 win over the Wizards on Dec. 22 of last year, when Brooklyn was plus-25 on the glass.

The four-game winning streak, however modest it might seem, is the longest for the Nets since coach Kenny Atkinson took over in 2016 and is the longest for the club since Brooklyn won six in a row from March 25-April 3, 2015.

Washington’s run in the fourth quarter was a byproduct of Atkinson’s decision to go small, with Rondae Hollis-Jefferson playing the 5. Much as the Wizards did in their 102-88 win over Brooklyn on Dec. 1, they rode Markieff Morris during their burst.

Morris scored eight of his 15 points in the fourth quarter before fouling out with 4:18 remaining, but Atkinson had countered by re-inserting Jarrett Allen into the lineup at the 4:56 mark, just as Washington had cut the Nets’ lead to 111-107.

The Wizards’ three offensive rebounds in the game were the second-fewest surrendered by the Nets this season, ahead of only the two Washington had in its Dec. 1 victory.

Brooklyn deployed its seventh different starting lineup of the season on Friday, as guard Allen Crabbe was inactive with a sore right knee. Rookie Rodions Kurucs got the start in Crabbe’s stead, with Harris shifting from the 3 to the 2.

The other inactives for the Nets were injured Treveon Graham (left hamstring strain) and Caris LeVert (subtalar dislocation of right foot), along with Alan Williams, who was with Brooklyn under his two-way contract.

Kenneth Faried took his 21st DNP-CD in 29 games active. Shabazz Napier did not play for the fifth time in 27 active games — and his fourth in a row.

Dzanan Musa, recalled from the Long Island Nets of the NBA G League Friday afternoon, was a DNP-CD for the 10th time in 17 games on the active list and Theo Pinson, also on a two-way contract, did not play for the fourth time in seven active games.

Here are the player grades from the win over the Wizards.