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The Brooklyn Nets will travel to face the Washington Wizards at Capitol One Arena Sunday evening.
The Brooklyn Nets (13-8, 4-4) are coming off a strong 147-125 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night. After a couple of disapointing defeats against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Nets have managed to win 4 straight, including 8 in their last 10 games played.
The Washington Wizards (3-12, 1-6) will look to reinvigorate themselves Sunday night, with the team still struggling to find their identity. They are coming into this match on the back of a 4-game losing streak, including a 116-110 defeat against the Atlanta Hawks in their last match. While Bradley Beal has played at an MVP level, the same can't be said about Russell Westbrook, who has struggled hugely since his arrival from Houston.
Match Details
Fixture: Brooklyn Nets vs Washington Wizards
Date & Time: Sunday, January 31st, 7 P.M ET.
Venue: Capitol One Arena
Brooklyn Nets Preview
The Brooklyn Nets were fantastic on Friday night against the OKC Thunder. This win without Kevin Durant gave us a slight indication of the growing chemistry between James Harden and Kyrie Irving.
With KD out because of load management, James Harden took care of business, dropping 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting with 10 rebounds and 11 assists. Kyrie Irving would match Harden's 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting with 7 assists. Together, the two single handedly got the job done, combining beautifully on numerous highlight plays as they took Brooklyn Nets over the line. Speaking after the win, Kyrie said,
“Any time the whole team played well we can do some great things as a group definitely stands out of the rest. Definitely proud of our guys for competing on both ends of the floor and just not letting the foot off the gas pedal.”
Looking just about dominant all throughout the night, the Brooklyn Nets shot 57% from the field overall, hitting 19 3-pointers and putting up 33 team assist.
The night was full of promise for the Brooklyn Nets, who are undoubtely in the win-now situation. Kevin Durant will be expected to return to the line on Sunday, which should only make the unit more formidable.
Key Player - James Harden
James Harden has been fantastic ever since he arrival to the Nets. The Beard was once again the spark that the Brooklyn Nets needed, when he dropped a 25-point triple double on the Atlanta Hawks.
It's Harden's usual playmaking abilities which has added so much energy to a Brooklyn Nets offense which has been lethal so far.
Both Harden and Kyrie were fantastic in sharing the ball around with their teammates, not allowing the offense to get stagnant. It is because of this, that in total 9 players from the Brooklyn Nets rosters finished in double figures.
Brooklyn Nets' Predicted Lineup
SG James Harden, G Kyrie Irving, SF Kevin Duarnt, C DeAndre Jordan, SG Joe Harris
Washington Wizards Preview
The Washington Wizards losing to the Atlanta Hawks only puts this team in more turmoil. The team is now 1-9 against Eastern Conference teams and has a dismal overall record of 3-12.
The team allowed 116 points on Friday, as they watched Hawks guard Trae Young score 41 points plus 3 rebounds and 5 assists.
The Washington Wizards season has been capped by moments of frustrations and ejections, as Russell Westbrook got T'd up and thrown out of the game for multiple verbal encounters with Hawks guard Rajon Rondo. This incident comes just 2 days after the former Houston Rockets superstar got into an altercation with John Wall.
Unlike Westbrook, Bradley Beal has been fantastic for the Washington Wizards this season and is the current league leader in points. Against the Atlanta Hawks, he was relatively quiet but still dropped a cool 26 points. He was not hiding his frustration after the game, saying,
“Still pissed off; that’s not changing. I feel like even if we won, we’d be pissed off. . . . We have to dig ourselves out of this hole and be ready to go come Sunday. It doesn’t get any easier; it doesn’t get any easier. They added two games to our schedule on our road trip.”
Key Player -- Bradley Beal
There is nothing else more Mr. Bradley Beal can do for the Washington Wizards but put up the numbers that he has done so far this season.
It's unfortunate when you have your star player like Bradley Beal putting up season-high numbers night after night, only to still come up short. The 27-year-old is having a career year, stepping up after John Wall's exit from the Washington Wizards. At this moment, Beal is averaging 34.7 points per game, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.8 assists.
Washington Wizards Predicted Lineup
G Bradley Beal, G Russell Westbrook, PF John Collins, SF Deandre Hunter, C Clint Capela
Nets vs Wizards Prediction
Things might get ugly in this one. If James Harden and Kyrie Irving duplicate what was done Friday night, and Kevin Durant is fully healthy then things will only get worse for a horrid Washington Wizards team.
The Nets have won 4 straight and are now 6-2 since introducing James Harden into the lineup. With chemistry progressively building between the two point guards, this team will only get more powerful.
Where to watch Nets vs Wizards
Nationally you can watch the Brooklyn Nets vs Washington Wizards encounter on NBA TV. Locally, the game will be available on NBCSWA. For global NBA fans, they can stream it live through NBA League Pass.
