Nets get test in tankathon do-over in matchup with lowly Wizards

WASHINGTON — The Nets’ tank is rolling on. Sunday night it rolls right into Washington, for a tank battle against the equally woeful Wizards. Rebuilding Brooklyn is just 1-11, entering the weekend tied with the Wizards and Pacers for the worst record in the NBA, and the best odds in the lottery. That makes Sunday’s tilt huge for the tank.A victory would be Pyrrhic. “It’s a learning process.

And it’s not just about the young guys.And I want to repeat this over and over: It’s about us.

It’s about the group.It’s about growing together,” said Jordi Fernández of his inexperienced team’s growth.

“There’s a plan for everybody to get better.And if you don’t get better, you get worse. “So, from here that’s a challenge for all of us, and we want to continue to see this.

Our wins are not just in the standings; our wins are in so many different places.We’ll judge that (and) we’ll move on to the next one.

To me, that’s the challenge, keep seeing positives and keep getting one percent better, and we’ll be OK.” For Brooklyn, a win would be a loss where Egor Dëmin, Noah Clowney and Drake Powell — all 21 or under — played well. Many pro-tanking Nets fans still look back at last season’s strong start — going into Thanksgiving an unexpected 9-10 — as having been costly in the lottery long run, hurting their chances at a franchise cornerstone. Enter this year’s do-over. While the lottery is capricious and random — rewarding long shots lately at the cost of the last-place teams — the Nets still seem intent on giving themselves every edge come May.That may mean losing Sunday against a Wizards team that has shown a single-minded determination to beat Brooklyn to the bottom. While Indiana took on Toronto on Saturday, the Nets play a day later in Washington, the first of four clashes in this season-long tank battle. Brooklyn has looked better lately despite Cam Thomas being hamstrung.

Their Defensive Rating, a runa...