EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.—Friday night at the IZOD Center, the Nets raced out to a 26-18 first-quarter lead behind 14 points from Courtney Lee, but the Wizards battled back to snatch an 81-79 victory on Earl Boykins’ pullup jumper with 0.4 seconds remaining. The Nets had one last chance, but Jarvis Hayes missed a catch-and-shoot three from the left corner at the buzzer.

Lee finished with a team-high 19 points. Brook Lopez put up 17 points and nine rebounds, hitting a game-tying layup with 13 seconds left, but also missing a pair of free throws that would’ve put the Nets up three with 3 ½ minutes to play. The Nets held each of Washington’s starters below double-digits in points, marking the first time that had happened in Wizards’ franchise history.

For the game recap, read Bob Considine’s story on NBA.com: Click Here

Last words on the Last Shot
Chris Douglas-Roberts said they knew the pick-and-roll was coming. Coach and General Manger Kiki Vandeweghe had Wizards guard Earl Boykins’ tendencies pegged, having watched the 5-foot-5 waterbug in Denver during his three seasons as the Nuggets’ GM. Vandeweghe said he’d witnessed Boykins hit big shots, particularly when going to his right. Thusly, the gameplan became a three-word one: “Send him left.”

But with the game tied and 13 seconds on the clock, the Wizards were able to inbound, with Antawn Jamison rushing over to set a pick for Boykins out by the three-point line. The Wizards’ forward is a capable outside shooter (.366 3P% this season, .349 career), which Kris Humphries – who had to mark him on the play – said caused the defense to stay tighter than they would have on a 4 with less range.

That allowed Boykins enough room to pull up as Humphries attempted to recover and contest the shot, and the jumper swished just ahead of the final buzzer. Humphries was further hamstrung by the Nets’ being in the penalty, which factored into his decision not to close out harder.

“In that situation, the last thing I wanted to do was get caught in the air and foul,” Humphries said. “I probably should have pushed up a little bit more and tried to get him to go more toward the basket, take a little tougher shot.”

A timeout offered the Nets a chance at final-attempt thievery inbounding from the frontcourt, and they ran a play designed to get Jarvis Hayes open in the corner for a three-pointer. But Washington guarded it well, and Hayes’ catch-and-shoot turnaround caught nothing but the side of the backboard.

The finish is made more frustrating when one realizes the Nets were tied or ahead for all but 7 minutes, 52 seconds. And despite only scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter, several times it seemed the Nets had regained momentum with big buckets: Courtney Lee’s driving baseline dunk with 6 minutes to go put the Nets ahead for the first time in 4 minutes, and Brook Lopez allowed a play to develop around him in the post before spinning by Brendan Haywood for a game-tying layup 13 seconds from the finish.

But as much as Douglas-Roberts is trying to sooth himself by implementing a new strategy of “instant amnesia,” it’s going to be tough. With a 5-of-17 shooting performance in the fourth, 10 offensive rebounds allowed in the first half and 18 turnovers committed (including a devastating shot-clock violation while trailing by two and just over a minute to play), it’s likely that the Nets will be replaying moments they wish they could’ve had back.

“Yeah, you can definitely do that,” Douglas-Roberts said. “But also you just have to say, ‘Look, you just didn’t do it,’ and just have to move on. Honestly, I’d rather lose like this than the way we’ve been losing. But (Boykins) hit a …”

Here the sophomore swingman trailed off, a disbelieving laugh escaping his lips.

“He hit a tough shot.”

Indeed.

Courtney’s Quick Start
Courtney Lee missed Wednesday’s game after having a late-developing wisdom tooth removed (four had been pulled when Lee was 13), and spoke afterward about having wanted to get himself going with defense, particularly after the team’s strong end-to-end effort in Wednesday’s victory against the Clippers. He opened the game by stripping Brendan Haywood, and went on to score 14 first-quarter points.

“I was just trying to be assertive,” Lee said. “My teammates were doing a good job of driving and penetrating and finding the open man. Luckily I was the guy on the end of that and I was just able to knock down open shots.”

Lee scored his first bucket two plays after that initial steal, driving from the top of the key to the baseline, where he pulled up for a clean swish. The second-year swingman followed that up with a one-dribble pullup, a pair of floaters, a fast-break layup, two free-throws and a catch-and-shoot jumper to finish the quarter a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor.

Guarding Mike Miller, Lee allowed only one shot attempt – a missed three – and helped force two turnovers. It marked a second straight strong start for the Nets’ swingmen, building off the early-game performance of Chris Douglas-Roberts and Trenton Hassell on Wednesday.

“Courtney’s already a high-energy guy,” Douglas-Roberts said pregame. “He never lacks energy, so I’m not worried about any energy falloff there. You just have to do the same thing. But it was a collective (effort), it wasn’t just me and Trent, it was everybody.”

Lee attempted only six more shots, connecting on two, but gave the Nets a fourth-quarter lead when he drove baseline for a two-handed flush with 6 minutes remaining. While quick shots often build in-game confidence, Lee maintained that he’s keeping level despite a season-long struggle with his shooting percentages (.405 overall, .278 from deep).

“Man, (as) a player, you can’t worry about percentage – you’re going to have nights like that and you’re going to have seasons like that, but you’ve just got to stay with it,” Lee said. “I’ve been in the gym putting in work; these last couple days I’ve shot a lot, just trying to get that rhythm back and especially get my wind back after three days off.

The Defense Doesn’t Rest
For a second straight game, the Nets kept an opponent in check, limiting the Wizards to 81 points, .421 shooting and 3-of-17 three-pointers. Most notably, they held the Wizards’ starters to a combined 38 points; each hit only three field goals while attempting at least seven. None broke double digits – Antawn Jamison led with nine – and this five goes down as the first set of starters to do so in franchise history.

Chris Douglas-Roberts said postgame that the Nets were finally playing defense as a team, and that communication, effort and desire have been there for two games in a row. Even Yi Jianlian did his part, several times holding his ground in the post and forcing Wizards big men into contested shots that went astray. And despite playing all season out of position at small forward, the 210-pound Douglas-Roberts has been gaining “priceless experience” going up against bulkier, stronger players like Washington’s Caron Butler, who weighs a ripped 228.

“He’s a tough matchup for anybody,” Douglas-Roberts said pregame. “That’s what I have to realize sometimes: guys are really good in this league and it’s not just me that they’re scoring on – they’re scoring on everybody in the league, and it’s my job to keep them under their average. And that’s what I try to do.”

Butler’s season average entering the game? 16.8 PPG (.423 FG%)

His total Friday? Nine. On 3-of-9 shooting.

The ultra-competitive Douglas-Roberts would readily trade it in for a ‘W,’ but that’s still a mini-mission accomplished versus the Wiz.

Dooling Does What He Can
Two nights after playing 36 minutes and helping to seal a victory by scoring 10 of his 18 points during the fourth quarter, Keyon Dooling logged another 37, posting seven points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals. The 29-year-old veteran has been dealing with a long, slow and painful recovery from offseason hip surgery, which left him unable to work out for much of the summer.

Vandeweghe said that the team has tried to limit Dooling to 15-20 minutes per game, but with injuries to Devin Harris and a need for outside shooting (Dooling fires away at a .348 clip from three), admits that’s simply not feasible. The offset comes in practice time, which rankles Dooling, who’s as enthusiastic a personality as the Nets have. He’s been working round the clock to keep the hip as ready to go as he can, treating it with trainer Tim Walsh and following up on his own time.

“Well, it doesn’t matter if I play a lot of minutes or a little bit of minutes, I stay pretty consistent with my rehab and my treatment regimen,” Dooling said. “I do it in the morning when I get to work, I do it again after practice, and then I do ice and stim about two times every night at home and I stretch every night two times at home, so it’s an all day thing.”

Couple Quick Ones
Brook Lopez is as mystified as anyone when it comes to how he missed those fourth-quarter free throws, especially when he's shooting .826 for the season: "Man. I don’t know what happened. I can’t believed I missed those. It came back to bite us. You can’t give away easy ones like that."...Kris Humphries’ hot shot cooled off after his career-high 25-point performance against L.A. – he wetted only 1-of-8 attempts. But he managed to earn seven free-throws, making six, and pull down two offensive boards in 26 hard-nosed minutes (five fouls)…Terrence Williams dished a few pretty assists and threw down a pair of crowd-pleasing dunks...

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