Trevor Ariza made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 40.9 seconds left in overtime, helping the Washington Wizards beat the Brooklyn Nets, 112-108, on Friday.
Ariza ended with five points and three steals for the Wizards, who have won two in a row after starting the season 0-3. Bradley Beal had 29 points, Nene tallied 20 points and John Wall donated 17 points and 14 assists.
“If you want to be a good team and have a chance of being in the playoffs,” Wall said, “you’ve got to win close games. We didn’t give up.”
Brook Lopez finished with 23 points for the Nets, who fell to 2-3 on the young season. Joe Johnson and Deron Williams tallied 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Nene scored 12 of his 20 points in the final 4 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter. Trailing 92-81, Nene led the Wizards on an 18-7 run. His putback with 1.2 seconds to play sent the game to overtime.
Paul Pierce’s first points of the game came with less than three minutes left in overtime. Williams followed with a 3-pointer to give Brooklyn a 106-105 edge.
Beal missed a shot from beyond the arc before Andray Blatche missed two free throws. With a chance to put Washington in front, Wall missed a jumper. Pierce was called for traveling at the other end.
Ariza followed with a 3-pointer to make it 108-106 Washington with 40.9 seconds left. Wall added two free throws after Johnson missed a jumper.
The margin remained four after Pierce and Beal each made two free throws. Williams missed a shot from beyond the arc with 3.8 seconds remaining.
“This is a process. Obviously, you have to have some type of patience with that process, but losing is losing. It sucks,” Nets forward Kevin Garnett said.
The Nets led by as many as 14 in the first half and took a 58-53 lead into the locker room.
But the Wizards started the second half on an 18-4 run. Wall scored the final four points of the surge to make it 71-62 Washington.
Brooklyn scored the final six points of the third quarter to make it a 73-73 game.
Each team scored 26 points in the fourth period.
Game Notes
Brooklyn took three of four games from Washington last season … Garnett and Pierce each had just four points … The Nets are 0-3 on the road this season … Brooklyn turned the ball over 23 times.
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