Washington — At 20 games below .500, the New Jersey Nets should have known better than to take any team for granted.
Saturday night, they took the Washington Wizards for granted. Now they're 21 below.
One night after beating the New York Knicks, the Nets blew a 14-point first-half lead and allowed the Wizards to break a six-game home losing streak with a 107-101 victory.
"Obviously we haven't matured very much," coach Byron Scott said. "For most of our guys, the win last night was more important than coming out here and trying to get something started in a positive way. Overall, we were just soft. Mentally, we were soft. Physically, we were soft. There was no intensity like there was last night.
"We played to the level of the competition. We come in here thinking this is the Washington Wizards, we're going to win, all we have to do is step on the court. It doesn't happen that way. We took these guys for granted and got what we deserved."
The Wizards played perhaps their worst game of the season the night before, losing 104-72 at Boston. They were the only team the Nets had dominated this season, losing the three previous meetings by double digits.
More of the same appeared imminent when New Jersey opened with a 13-1 run. With the score 22-11, Washington coach Leonard Hamilton replaced his entire starting lineup and later barked: "If you don't guard nobody, you ain't playin'."
It worked. Led by recently acquired Christian Laettner, who didn't play in any of those earlier losses to the Nets, the backups stopped the onslaught and made it close by halftime.
Laettner finished with a season-high 26 points and 11 rebounds. Richard Hamilton scored 25 points and Mitch Richmond had 21 as the Wizards beat an Atlantic Division team for only the second time in 20 tries.
Kenyon Martin scored 21 points and Stephon Marbury had 20 points and 12 assists for the Nets, who made just one field goal and one free throw over the final 4:17.
Hawks 93, Bulls 90
Atlanta Jason Terry scored 19 points and Toni Kukoc added 16 as Atlanta snapped a 10-game losing streak. Ron Artest, who hit a 3-pointer inside the final two seconds, joined Elton Brand in leading the Bulls with 20 points. Chicago, the worst team in the NBA, has lost five of seven, eight of 11 and 24 of 29.
Hornets 100, Bucks 90
Charlotte, N.C. Eddie Robinson scored 20 points six off alley-oop dunks as Charlotte moved within three games of Central Division-leading Milwaukee.
Magic 105, Timberwolves 93
Orlando, Fla. Tracy McGrady scored 33 points and Don Reid had 11 points and 13 rebounds in Orlando's victory over Minnesota. Kevin Garnett had 21 points for Minnesota but none in the fourth quarter and 15 rebounds.
Warriors 81, Rockets 86
Houston Steve Francis scored 24 points, including four free throws in the final :09, and reserve Moochie Norris scored nine fourth-quarter points to lead Houston to its 13th victory in its last 16 games. Antawn Jamison led Golden State with 33 points. The loss is the sixth straight for Golden State and its 10th in its last 11 games.
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