WASHINGTON — The Nets fell to 0-5 on the tail end of back-to-backs, but can’t blame fatigue. The NBA admitted the rꦫefs blew a string of calls down t♔he stretch in Friday’s collapse that should’ve gone Brooklyn’s way, but the Nets can’t point at the refs.
After a 102-88 loss to the Wizards on Saturday th𒁏at r♎an their skid to six games, the Nets can only point the finger at themselves.
“They played back-to-back, too, so you can’t use that as an excu🐼se,” D’Angelo Russell said.
“There ain’t no excuses,” Ed Davis said. “You can’t use fatigue in the NBA. They were on a back-to-back, too. They played ♌Philly last n♋ight at Philly. We played at home, same amount of travel time pretty much. There’s no excuses.
“We’ve got to get the job done. We had [Friday] in our pockets, we gave it to them. We were up 12 against Philly, we were up eight going into the fourth quarter against Utah. You have to finish those things out because you have nights like [Saturday] wheꦿre you’re struggling. This is what the NBA is all about: When you’ve got a team down, you’ve got to stomp on them.”
Coach Kenny Atkinson had the same message regarding th🐼e NBA Last Two Minute Report showing that of the eight incorrect calls in the final two minutes of regul🐷ation and overtime Friday, six went against the Nets.
“You can have frustration or not have frustration, but from our perspective, we’re only looking at our mistakes, what did the Nets do, our breakdowns,” Atkinson said. “[Calls are] something we can’t control. … They could do a two minute report on us, there’d be plenty of mistakes in there.”
The Nets b🤡lew a seven-point lead with 33 seconds left in regulation Friday, but the two biggest plays should’ve gone the other way.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was called for a foul on Jaren Jackson Jr. with 26.2 seconds left, giving the rookie a four-point play. But the report said Jackson “unnaturally extends his leg to creཧate the contact with Hollis-Jefferson (BKN), who would avoid making contact with him had there been no leg extension.”
Just 3.2 seconds later, Russell committed a turnover receiving 🎃an inbounds, but the report revealed there should’ve been a foul, saying Jackson “makes contact with 🐈Russell’s (BKN) left arm and affects his ability to control the inbound pass.”
Atkinson too��k the blame, saying he should’ve 💫devised a better inbounds play.
Joe Harris (adductor) missed a second straight game but could face the Cavalier🌊s on Monജday.
“Joe is day-to-day. I’m optimistic for Monday,” Atkinson saidꦕ. “I thin♔k it’s trending in the right direction.”
The Nets would “very much like to keep” Spencer Dinwiddie “long term” but only at their price, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on a Saturday interview with Fordham student ꦺstation WFUV.
Dinwiddie’s custom ಞsneakers Saturday — which he auctions off for his charity — were an homage to Harriet Tubman.