Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Brook Lopez posted 26 points and nine rebounds, and the Brooklyn Nets inched closer to sewing up a playoff spot with a 117-80 blowout of the Washington Wizards.
Bojan Bogdanovic equaled a career-high with 22 points for the Nets, who remained one game ahead of Indiana for the eighth and final playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. Brooklyn is also tied with Boston for seventh place.
Winners in eight of their last 10 games, the Nets have three games remaining -- at Milwaukee before home contests against Chicago and Orlando.
The playoff-bound Wizards, who are currently locked into the No. 5 seed, saw a four-game winning streak end.
Bradley Beal totaled 24 points and Marcin Gortat chipped in 21 points and 16 rebounds for Washington.
Lopez had 14 points in the opening quarter, when the Nets raced out to a 31-14 lead after 12 minutes. They gave up the first five points before responding with 11 in a row, including six from Lopez.
"We came out aggressive early, moved the ball well and played great 'D'," Lopez said.
A driving layup by Lopez extended the margin to 47-20 midway through the second quarter, and the Nets carried a 54-38 lead into halftime.
Gortat and Beal combined for all 24 of Washington's points in the third quarter, but the Wizards were only able to get within 75-62 entering the fourth.
The bottom fell out for Washington in the fourth, as the Nets opened the period on a 20-1 spurt. Bogdanovic, who went 6-of-6 from beyond the arc, capped it with a 3-pointer.
"It was a no show," Wizards head coach Randy Wittman said of his team's performance. "We had no rhyme or reason to what we were doing out there."
Game Notes
Joe Johnson tied a season-high with nine assists to go with seven points for Brooklyn ... John Wall (rest) sat out for the Wizards, who shot 39 percent from the field ... Brooklyn converted 21 Washington turnovers into 38 points.
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