Washington Wizards beat Brooklyn Nets after 2.5 seconds of madness

Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook did the impossible in mere seconds as a crazy sequence of events saw Washington stun the Nets.

Russell Westbrook is the king of Washington.

The Brooklyn Nets imploded in spectacular fashion as a stunning run in the dying seconds saw Washington secure a thrilling come-from-behind 149-146 win on Monday (AEDT).

The Nets (13-9) saw their winning streak snapped at four games, after blowing an 18-point cushion in the first half and a five-point lead with 12.3 seconds to play in the fourth quarter.

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Kyrie Irving (26 points, eight assists) had put Brooklyn ahead 146-141, only to watch his team choke horribly against the last-placed Wizards (4-12), who are at present the worst team in the eastern conference.

Bradley Beal had 20 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, and Russell Westbrook torched the Nets with a game-high 41 points.

Westbrook beat Irving to tie it at 141-all with 41.1 seconds left in regulation. Irving answered with a jump-shot on the other end, breaking the deadlock just 10 seconds later. He went on to hit a pair of free throws with 12.3 seconds left to put the Nets up by five. But what should’ve been a victory turned into a collapse.

The Nets surrendered six points in 2.5 seconds. Beal hit a long three-pointer, and after Joe Harris gave the ball away on an inbounds pass, Westbrook drilled an incredible three-pointer of his own with 4.3 seconds to go, and the Wizards were ahead by one.

When Irving hit Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot on a no-look pass but the ensuing lay-up rolled around and out, the Nets’ heartbreaking loss was confirmed.

Russell Westbrook was all smiles.

James Harden missed his first game since joining the Nets from Houston, Kevin Durant had 37 points and Harris added 30 on a career-high eight of 13 from three-point range. Jeff Green continued his strong play off the bench with 23 points, but the Nets defence was atrocious.

The Nets let the Wizards shoot 51.9 per cent overall from the field and run riot at the death when the game was on the line.

The Nets stormed out to a quick 14-4 lead on a Durant three-pointer just 3:03 into the game. After DeAndre Jordan dunked off a Durant feed, his block of Westbrook led to a Joe Harris three on the other end for a 19-5 lead.

Green pump-faked Alex Len on a sloppy close-out and drove right through an empty lane for a dunk that made it 23-9. In one frustrated motion, Beal snatched the ball up off the bounce and slammed it into the stanchion.

The Nets led by as much as 31-13 on an Irving turnaround with 2:56 left in the first quarter. But they took their foot off the gas in the second, and it came back to cost them in the end.

Letting Washington get into the paint, the Nets allowed an 8-0 run to lose control of the game, and then a 7-0 spurt to lose the lead altogether.

With the Nets clinging to a 56-50 edge, they saw Washington erase it. A Beal three-point play capped that run and gave the Wizards their first lead at 57-56.

On the other end, Beal raked Durant across the arm on a drive, and the two had some words after Beal got whistled for a foul. From that point on, Durant took over and sparked a 15-8 run that closed the half.

Durant had eight points and two assists — both for Jordan lob dunks — to send Brooklyn into the locker room up 71-65. But the Nets could never quite play enough defence in the second half to take complete control.

Brooklyn saw Beal pull the Wizards within 121-119 on a three-pointer with 6:40 left. But the Nets responded with a 9-2 run, Irving’s pull-up 3 padding the cushion back to nine with 4:54 to play.

This article first appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission