Michael Porter Jr. scored 20 of his 23 points before halftime as the Brooklyn Nets produced their biggest first half in a little over three years and beat the Washington Wizards 127-113 Saturday afternoon in New York.
Brooklyn scored 46 points in the opening quarter, its most since a 47-point first quarter against the host Detroit Pistons on April 5, 2023. The Nets also scored 80 in the first half, its most before halftime since getting 91 points in a 143-113 home win over the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 21, 2022.
Porter led seven in double figures as the Nets won for the fourth time in their past 22 games.
Day’Ron Sharpe added 19 and nine rebounds to lead a 56-point showing by Brooklyn’s bench. Noah Clowney contributed 18, rookies Danny Wolf and Nolan Traore finished with 16 and 15, respectively.
The Nets shot 54.9%, scored a season-best 66 points in the paint and led by as many as 34 in the first half.
Rookie Will Riley scored a career-high 27 points as Washington played with eight available players. Justin Champagnie added 21 while Tristan Vukcevic and Sharife Cooper contributed 14 apiece as the Wizards shot 46.8%.
Besides missing Jaden Hardy and D’Angelo Russell following their acquisitions from the Dallas Mavericks in the blockbuster Anthony Davis trade, Washington was without Bilal Coulibaly (sore back), Kyshawn George (right knee bruise), Alex Sarr (sore right ankle) and Tre Johnson (sprained left ankle)
The Nets ended the opening quarter on a 23-3 run and held a 46-20 lead after Wolf buried a 3-pointer with nine tenths of a second left following Washington’s eighth turnover. The Nets saw their lead reach 30 when Sharpe’s 3-point play made it 51-21 early in the second and held an 80-47 lead by halftime after Porter hit a stepback 3 with 7.3 seconds left.
The Wizards showed some life by opening the second half on a 21-5 run to get within 85-68 on a 3 by Riley with 6:44 left. Brooklyn regained a little control in the final minutes of the quarter and held a 101-82 cushion in the fourth.
Riley converted a four-point play and a layup on consecutive trips to cut the lead to 117-103 with 5:46 remaining and Cooper’s corner 3 made it 123-111 with 2:10 left before the Nets finished it off.
