When Brian Keefe addressed media before Sunday’s game, the Washington Wizards coach denied the matchup with the Brooklyn Nets — another young team with a poor record — held any additional importance. His Nets counterpart, Jordi Fernandez, also rejected the idea that the matchup could be a measuring stick.
A few hours later, Keefe returned to the Capital One Arena home interview room after a 129-106 loss. It was the Wizards’ 11th straight defeat and an NBA-worst sixth loss by at least 20 points. Washington’s per-game point differential this season is minus-16.7, which would be the worst mark ever for an entire season.
Even if the defeat and margin were common sights, the Wizards’ response was alarming just 13 games into the season.
Keefe struck an unusually negative tone after the game, expressing disappointment in his players and saying they “buckled to the adversity.” He also placed blame on himself and said he would look inward to find improvement.
He asked the same of his players. The Wizards had a scheduled day off Monday. Keefe told them to use it to ask what they could do better. After coaches left the locker room, Washington held a players-only meeting.
The loss felt different — and despite the coaches’ denials, it seems like it was at least partially because of the opponent. Center Alex Sarr said the issues struck the team more after Sunday’s loss because it was a game Washington should have won; asked why, he pointed to the Nets’ record. Sarr also said the coaching staff was not a topic of discussion during the players-only meeting.
Asked about Keefe’s postgame message, forward Kyshawn George said: “Look at yourself in the mirror and answer the deeper questions. It’s more than basketball. What you really want in life? What you want to build? What we want to do here as an organization? Just make sure you answer the question correctly and come up with the correct mindset the next day.”
What’s the right answer?
“I guess we’ll see,” George said. In his second season, the forward has tried to assume more of a leadership role. He said after Friday’s practice that because he has a bigger role, he feels more guilt after losses. He scored a team-high 29 points Sunday but said that was “1 percent of positive” and that scoring on a losing team “was not going to bring anybody anywhere.”
It was another poor showing for a team that wants to build primarily through its defense. Washington has the second-worst defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) in the league, behind only Brooklyn, per Cleaning the Glass.
It’s important to note Washington is incentivized to lose. Its 2026 first-round pick goes to the New York Knicks if it falls outside the top eight. Ensuring that outcome requires the Wizards to have one of the worst four records in the league. But as veteran guard CJ McCollum put it, it’s also about how they lose.
Sunday wasn’t good enough.
Keefe said the Nets were too “comfortable” on offense, and it showed, as they shot a season-best 53.2 percent from the field. After some strong early play, the “contest level, the force, the scramble, the hustle … to make them miss” wasn’t there, the coach said. McCollum pointed to poor transition defense and poor communication on switches as recurring defensive issues.
“No such thing as a wrong call if you call something,” he said. “I think sometimes we just don’t say anything.”
McCollum also said the Wizards had lapses that turned into runs and momentum for Brooklyn.
That gets back to Keefe’s point about his team not responding to adversity. Washington trailed by just two with about nine minutes left in the second quarter. Rookie guard Tre Johnson fouled a three-point shooter, who made all three free throws, and then the Nets hit another three. Keefe called a timeout and brought in his starters, but the huddle — which wing Corey Kispert pointed to as one of the ways good teams regroup — did not work. Ultimately, Brooklyn went on a 16-4 run in less than five minutes.
Washington clawed back to make it a one-point deficit late in the third quarter but promptly gave up a 9-0 run to close the frame. It avalanched from there, turning into a 23-4 blitzing that sealed the defeat and pried open unwelcome questions.
“The really good teams cut the water off before it gets too late, and we’ve had a hard time doing that,” Kispert said.
Moving onto the next play has been an issue for the Wizards, who hold onto their mistakes and let them spiral, McCollum said. Things sounded different from the visitor’s side.
“You get punched and then you punch back,” Fernandez told reporters after his team’s win. “Those are the moments where you see the growth, and the group comes together.”
The Wizards hope Sunday’s trials help them grow tighter. George referenced getting “everything to zero” when discussing the players-only meeting. Kispert elaborated on what that meant: The Wizards had better habits and momentum to start the season but have fallen off “pretty quickly.” Getting back to zero means getting back to that earlier state.
That comes through self-reflection, honesty and work, Kispert said, noting the easiest thing to do is point fingers.
How the Wizards respond could show which young players are separating from the others. That’s something General Manager Will Dawkins said before the season the organization hoped would happen over the 2025-26 campaign. It will help decide who stays and goes over the next few years and how this rebuild ends.
“A rising tide raises all ships, and if I get better myself and Tristan [Vukcevic] gets better himself and so does Tre [Johnson], they just raise the level,” Kispert said, picking from the locker room at random. “The people that aren’t tagging along start to stick out like sore thumbs.”
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