Nets crushed by Wizards for third straight loss that comes with tanking silver lining

Maybe Brooklyn’s tank is still alive.In a clash sure to have lottery ramifications, the shorthanded Nets lost, 119-99, to the Wizards on Friday before a crowd of 16,486 at Capital One Arena.After having won seven of 10, Brooklyn (10-22) has now gone cold and dropped three straight. The Nets are fifth in the lottery standings and have pulled within 1 ½ games of the fourth-place Wizards, a clear silver lining in this defeat.Friday’s tilt underscored just how a player or two can tilt a tanking result.The Nets were without three starters on Thursday’s home loss to Golden State — Michael Porter Jr., Egor Dёmin and Terance Mann. And a night later in Washington, Porter was still out sick and joined on the unavailable list by starting center Nic Claxton (personal reasons) and Cam Thomas.Brooklyn is not only 0-6 on the tail end of back-to-backs, but — perhaps more relevant to the upcoming decisions general manager Sean Marks will have to make before the trade deadline — is also a winless 0-6 without Porter.Sans Porter, the Nets’ offense consistently cratered. They trailed by as many as 28 points and had no consistent source of offense.Day’Ron Sharpe got his first start of the season in place of Claxton and had 14 points, nine rebounds, two steals and two blocks.Mann, Ziaire Williams and rookie Drake Powell all also had 14.Justin Champagnie had a game-high 20 points and Alex Sarr added 19 points and five blocks for Washington. But it’s been CJ McCollum (17 points, six boards) and Khris Middleton who have helped change the Wizards’ fortunes of late.Washington opened the season 3-20, including 14 straight losses.  Sign up for Inside the Nets by Brian Lewis, exclusively on Sports+.

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