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Yi Jianlian just couldn't get a handle on his game against
the Washington Wizards (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
On the brink of winning back-to-back games for the first time this season, the New Jersey Nets surrendered the lead and the game in the fourth quarter to the Washington Wizards as Yi Jianlian sat on the bench.
When Yi Jianlian came back from his knee injury, he hit the ground running, but he's cooled off lately, and his minutes have fallen off as a result.
He scored in double digits for 12 of the first 13 games after returning to the team, playing thirty or more minutes in every game. But he's only reached double digits three of the last four games, never cracking that thirty-point threshold.
Some of that has been from fouls, which kept him out of New Jersey's first win in almost a month and only their fourth win of the year against the Clippers on Wednesday. Tonight, he just never seemed to be in the flow of the game, settling for jump shots more than driving the lane, a clear indication that he's being hesitant.
It doesn't help that point guard Devin Harris is still nursing a wrist injury, leaving the court generalship to Keyon Dooling and Chris Quinn. The entire team, except for Courtney Lee and Brook Lopez, looked off against Washington, playing their first game since the suspensions of Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton.
The Nets jumped out to an early eight-point lead, largely thanks to Lee and Lopez, who scored 18 of the team's 26 first-quarter points. Yi scored two points and pulled down a rebound, but also turned the ball over twice and committed an offensive foul.
Yi picked up another deuce in the second quarter, but only had three shooting opportunities. Kris Humphries, one of Yi's competitors for playing time, who led the Nets with eight points in the quarter. New Jersey went into the half still leading by just one, 47-46.
In the third quarter, Yi shot two-for-four, but missed three of four from the line and picked up two more fouls. The Nets, meantime, widened their lead to eight at one point, but couldn't hold off a pesky Wizards squad led by the diminutive, well-traveled veteran Earl Boykins, who kept them in the game.
Leading 66-63, the Nets went into a fourth quarter where Yi watched from the bench as Washington took their first lead since early in the first quarter. They traded the lead down the stretch, and the Nets tied the game with 13 seconds to play when Brook Lopez made a nice up-and-under move—Yi and the New Jersey bench went crazy.
Unfortunately, thirteen seconds was plenty of time for Boykins to make a long jumper with 0.4 seconds to play, leaving the Nets with a desperation heave from Jarvis Hayes, who missed. This marks the deepest point in the season that New Jersey has failed to record back-to-back wins, and it looks like they'll have to wait a bit longer for that to happen.
Although a Wizards squad missing its best player due to suspension was an excellent opportunity, they'll have another chance to win two in a row. They face the 15-31 76ers on Sunday and the 15-30 Pistons on Tuesday, and Devin Harris should return for both games.
Hopefully for Asian-American sports fans, that will mean Yi Jianlian will get back in the game, too.
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