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Wizards vs. Nets preview: Washington looks for their first win of the NBA restart against Brooklyn

This is probably the “easiest” game for the Wizards to win.

Brooklyn Nets v Washington Wizards Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images

After a not so impressive opening performance against the Phoenix Suns, Washington will look for their first win of the restart on Sunday afternoon when they take on the Brooklyn Nets.

If we’re being honest with ourselves here, this is by far the Wizards best chance to get in the win column in Orlando. Like the Wizards, Brooklyn is decimated with injuries and guys who’ve opted to sit out of the NBA bubble.

Game Info

When: Sunday, August 2 at 2:00 p.m. ET

Where: Disney World, Orlando, Florida

How to watch: NBC Sports Washington

Injury Report

Wizards: Garrison Mathews (Personal Reasons, Out)

Nets: Jamal Crawford (Coach’s Decision, Out)

Pregame notes

Where do the Wizards go from here?

Washington was flat out overmatched in their first game. It would have been one thing if they had taken on an upper echelon team from either conference but the fact of the matter is, it was against the lottery bound Phoenix Suns.

Rui Hachimura was Washington’s best player on Friday as he scored 21 points to go along with eight rebounds. Jerome Robinson, the ultimate ‘make or miss’ guy was on evidenced has be poured in 20 points off the bench on 7-of-9 shooting. Unfortunately for the Wizards, outside of those two guys, there wasn’t much to get excited about.

Ish Smith did his best to keep Washington in the game but the backup point guard jacking up 18 shots isn’t a winning recipe. If you just look at the box score, Thomas Bryant and Troy Brown Jr.’s stat lines looked ok however Bryant was significantly overmatched by Deandre Ayton while Brown was nowhere to be found for parts of the game.

Meanwhile, Shabazz Napier, a guy who some thought might breakout during the restart scored 12 points but did so on 4-of-13 shooting against Phoenix.

The type of effort and lack of execution that was on the floor against Phoenix has to be flipped and quickly if the Wizards are going to beat the Nets on Sunday.

Also, someone better step up (ideally Brown, Bryant, or Bonga) for the Wizards in this next matchup as Ish Smith and Shabazz Napier combining for 31 shots clearly isn’t a winning formula. If Washington can’t get a win against Brooklyn, there’s a decent chance that they could go winless over their final six games.