The Brooklyn Nets did everything they needed to do in the fourth quarter against the Washington Wizards except hit that one, last shot.
Trailing from the opening minutes, down by 10 at halftime and 12 early in the fourth, the Nets closed the gap but couldn’t close the deal in a 114-110 overtime loss at Barclays Center.
It was the 12th win in 14 games for the Wizards, who lost an overtime epic to conference-leading Cleveland on Monday and have moved up into third in the Eastern Conference.
“We were really right there,” said Brook Lopez. “This is a very good team. They’re playing as well as anyone in the league right now. And to compete with them, push to overtime, and then be right there at the end of the game with a great chance, a great chance, we got a great look, there’s something to be said for us.”
A 13-2 run in the fourth quarter got the Nets even at 85, the first of five ties in the fourth quarter. The last tie, on Bojan Bogdanovic’s drive with 41.9 seconds to go, knotted the game at 100 where it went to overtime.
The Nets took three leads in the extra period, trading baskets with the Wizards. But with the game tied at 107, Washington’s Otto Porter was fouled going for a rebound and made two from the line. John Wall followed with another pair 21 seconds later, with a minute to go.
Bogdanovic drove the lane again for a dunk, but at the other end Bradley Beal recovered his own miss and made two more from the line. With 7.5 seconds remaining, Foye made 1-of-2 free throws to cut it to 110-109. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Wall stopped out of bounds under pressure.
The Nets inbounded with 6.1 seconds, but Bogdanovic couldn’t connect on another three.
Bogdanovic led the Nets with 21 points, while Lopez had 20. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Trevor Booker had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Beal scored a game-high 26 for Washington while Wall had 20 points and 12 assists.
Down 79-72 going into the fourth, the Nets limited Washington to 8-for-30 shooting in the fourth quarter and overtime. Washington finished the game shooting 41 percent from the field.
Overall this season, the Nets are ranked 26th in defensive rating (109.0). But over the last five games that defensive rating has dropped to 100.5, sixth in the league.
“We’ve been fantastic defensively,” said Lopez. “We’re really showing a lot of grit and trusting one another. I think we’ve been consistent on that end. We need to stay that way, keep believing.”