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Brooklyn Nets steamroll Washington Wizards in preseason game #2, 131-92

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Brooklyn Nets steamroll Washington Wizards in preseason game #2, 131-92


“I think we’re all excited. We’ve been working really hard. The whole month of September was just a grind for us, and I think everybody’s excited to kind of beat up on somebody else.”

That was first-year Brooklyn Net Shake Milton discussing the unofficial end to training camp, as Brooklyn’s preseason contest vs. the Washington Wizards on Monday night marked the beginning of real competition. Three preseason games this week, then the start to the regular season.

Ziaire Williams, are you also excited to beat up on somebody else?

“Yeah, one-thousand percent man. I’m tired of guarding Cam Thomas and Cam Johnson man, I’ve had plenty of reps against them.”

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Preseason talk is to be taken with a grain of salt — as fans of the team that employs Ben Simmons well know — but every Net has emphasized how grueling Jordi Fernández’s inaugural training camp has been. Conditioning, hustle, effort, none of these drills too extreme, just more of them.

“You know, nowadays you go up and down two or three times, and they say your load is too high, right? So it’s not too much of that over here,” half-joked Williams.

So it’s no wonder Fernández — who spent much of the night windmilling his arm like a third-base coach to call for full-court pressure — called a timeout three minutes into Monday’s contest, following two possessions where Jordan Poole walked into buckets without any ball-pressure.

“We started okay, but we didn’t find a way to apply our ball-pressure like we’re supposed to, picking up full-court,” said Fernández.

However, his team responded strongly enough to finish the quarter with a 28-20 lead, while Nets fans likely noticed a development on the other end: Ben Simmons!

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Simmons finished his 13-minute first half with a team-high 11 points, five boards, and two assists on 5-of-7 shooting. His last bucket, a hanging alley-oop tip-in from Dennis Schröder, didn’t break the backboard, but it did prompt YES Network’s Frank Isola to immediately say, “it looks like the surgery was successful.”

Simmons came out of the halftime break with the warm-up on; his night was done, but it was already a successful one.

Fernández admitted a clerical error on his part capped Simmons’ minutes at 13 (the plan was always a second-half break) while noting how his starting point guard did what he expected: pushing the pace, getting downhill, and finding the open man.

As for the rest of the game, the Nets ceded their lead to the Wizards midway through the second quarter. However, a Jaylen Martin/Jalen Wilson/Noah Clowney/Shake Milton/Ziaire Williams lineup may have been doomed from the start, and when the starters came back in, they immediately course-corrected.

Though Washington did miss many of their open looks, Brooklyn won the possession battle by only turning it over five times and allowing five offensive boards by the time main rotation players were subbed out toward the end of the third quarter.

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“Well, this game, we put together a full game,” said Dorian Finney-Smith. “I feel like that first game we played in spurts; it was a full game, from the starters to the bench. Y’all got a glimpse of how coach wants to play, he wants to pick up full-court, wants to be disruptive and shoot a lot of threes.”

In that third quarter, Cam Thomas and Shake Milton, a couple of bucket-getting combo guards, reminded us that they do indeed get buckets. Thomas finished with a game-high 17 points, Milton with 16, and Jalen Wilson rounded out the trio with 14 points, with much of the trio’s collective damage coming in the third quarter…

As a whole, the Nets reminded us what having a handful of real NBA players looks like. No, Brooklyn will not be a good NBA team this season in part because, yes, they will trade some of those real NBA players to ensure a successful tank. But my god, the Washington Wizards are awful. Bub Carrington might be good though.

The Nets even ran up the score in the fourth quarter, entering the final dozen with an 89-70 lead and turning it into something much larger than that. Every player but Amari Bailey scored on the night, Noah Clowney dunked a couple times, and Tyrese Martin made some highlight plays.

As a nightcap, Cui Yongxi delighted the Barclays Center crowd (and his bench) with a couple buckets…

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…and though he got a little ahead of himself by calling an iso that ended in an airball, it was a joyous end to the blowout.

“[He] plays with a joy man, and I love to see he’s always smiling,’ said Finney-Smith. “When you look at him play, you realize it’s just basketball because he always got a smile on his face.”

Cam Thomas, with an equally big smile, said of the moment: “Everybody got lit and then he called for the iso, so everybody just went went crazy. So it was good, definitely good. You know, everybody — we all like each other. I feel like that also helps us as a team. We all like each other.”

While Thomas’ reaction was nothing but genuine, it is easier to like each other when you’re winning. And the Nets won big on Monday night. It was even fun! Preseason, baby!

Final Score: Brooklyn Nets 131, Washington Wizards 92

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Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images

Brooklyn will play their second of three preseason games this week on Wednesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET from the Wells Fargo Center.



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Washington Capitals 2025-26 W Magazine Now Available | Washington Capitals

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Washington Capitals 2025-26 W Magazine Now Available | Washington Capitals


Arlington, Va.W Magazine, a lifestyle publication produced by the Washington Capitals, is now available for purchase online at www.washcaps.com/wmagazine and at the Team Store at Capital One Arena and at the Team Store at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. The fan-favorite magazine, which features content surrounding every Capitals player along with hundreds of personal, never-before-seen family photos, is available for $8 plus shipping. In addition, season ticket members will receive a complimentary issue, with copies for season ticket members available at the Planholder Hub on the 100-level concourse during Capitals home games.

The cover story, written by Capitals senior writer Mike Vogel, goes in-depth with forward Pierre-Luc Dubois. Vogel speaks with Dubois, his teammates and family members for an extensive feature on the phone call that changed Dubois’ life and shaped his future with the Capitals franchise. Spanning more than 200 pages, W offers exclusive photography of Capitals players and their families, along with lifestyle content and interviews with every member of the 2025-26 roster. Highlights include:

  • John Carlson on fishing in Maryland with his sons
  • Brandon Duhaime on spearfishing and his related YouTube channel
  • Ryan Leonard on moving to D.C. and living with the Dubois family
  • Charlie Lindgren on his first offseason as a dad
  • Alex Ovechkin on celebrating back home after becoming the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer
  • Logan Thompson on his love of dogs
  • Trevor van Riemsdyk on pop-a-shot and pickleball

The magazine also features an in-depth look at the Capital One Arena transformation project, including exclusive photos, insights into future phases and Capitals player reactions to the new Capitals locker room complex. A special interview with Monumental Sports Network’s Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin reflects on the historic 50th anniversary season, while a day-in-the-life piece with Caps Radio’s John Walton and Katie Florio brings readers behind-the-scenes of a home game radio broadcast.

Additional features include a look at a regular day for former Capitals service dog in training Biscuit – now a facility dog at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center – and a photographic recap of Alex Ovechkin’s historic 2024-25 season. A new “Beyond the Boards” section spotlights community stories, while the fan-favorite “Short Shifts” section returns with Capitals players sharing thoughts on topics such as the best singer on the team, funniest teammate, personal goals beyond hockey, what everyone should try at least once, their ideal entrance theme song and more.

The magazine also profiles members of the Capitals Black Hockey Committee and introduces fans to the team driving the organization’s youth hockey initiatives.

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W design services were provided by Matt Ryan. Player photography was provided by Greg Powers with assistance from Damon Banks. The cover featuring Pierre-Luc Dubois was photographed on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., with the assistance of captains and crew from City Cruises. Players were photographed for the publication at Origin in Arlington, Va.



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Ginger’s Journey: Walking from Washington State to Washington, D.C.

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Ginger’s Journey: Walking from Washington State to Washington, D.C.


Imagine setting out, on foot, for a journey not knowing how long it would take. Now imagine doing it with two animals as traveling partners from Washington State to Washington, D.C.

“Now I’ve started this leg of the journey in Morton, Washington where I was spiritually requested to go to Washington, D.C. and sing the song ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon on the Capitol steps,” says Jacob Holiday.

Jacob Holiday is on his way across America so he can sing a song he says signifies peace in the hopes, he says, of ending violence everywhere.

“I want so much peace. Cops would no longer carry firearms. We’re going to send the militaries of every country, I don’t care which one you’re talking about but every country, home to go to sleep. I don’t care what they do. But I want all this violence, everything, all this violence to stop.”

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He has two wagons and his traveling companions are a dog and a goat. Holiday started in Washington State in July and he’s not worried about how long his hike across America will take.

His multi-state trek has seen him encounter a lot along the way, including a run-in with a bear.

He carries food for himself and his dog and his goat on carts that he says weigh a couple hundred pounds. Besides necessities, Holiday has one thing he’d greatly appreciate receive being able to buy as he continues his mission.

Holiday says he knows his mission isn’t an easy one, and he uses it as a metaphor for life as a whole.

We caught up with Holiday in the early part of November on a 70-degree day in Cambridge, Nebraska then spoke to him again a few days later in the rain as he headed east on Highways 6 and 34, so no telling how far he’s gotten now.

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After we met with Holiday, we did notify the local sheriff to perform a welfare check, but we’re told Holiday wanted to continue his walk with his Capitol Steps goal still ahead of him. We also offered him food for himself and his animals, which he declined saying he had enough food on his carts.



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Washington state flooding damage profound but unclear, governor warns

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Washington state flooding damage profound but unclear, governor warns


The extent of the damage in Washington state is profound but unclear after more than a week of heavy rains and record flooding, according to the state’s governor, Bob Ferguson.

A barrage of storms from weather systems stretching across the Pacific has dumped close to 2ft (0.6 metres) of rain in parts of the state, swelling rivers far beyond their banks and prompting more than 600 rescues across 10 counties.

More high water, mudslides and power outages were in the forecast. Elevated rivers and flood risk could persist until at least late this month, according to the National Weather Service. Wind and flood watches and warnings are expected in much of the north-west for the next couple of days as storms bring rain, heavy mountain snow and high winds.

As of Tuesday, authorities had recorded one death – of a man who drove past warning signs into a flooded area – but key highways were buried or washed out, entire communities had been inundated, and saturated levees had given way. It could be months before State Route 2, which connects cities in western Washington with the Stevens Pass ski area and the faux Bavarian tourist town of Leavenworth across the mountains, can be reopened, Ferguson said.

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“We’re in for the long haul,” Ferguson said at a news conference. “If you get an evacuation order, for God’s sakes, follow it.”

It won’t be until after waters recede and landslide risk subsides that crews will be able to fully assess the damage, he said. The state and some counties are making several million dollars available to help people pay for hotels, groceries and other necessities, pending more extensive federal assistance that Ferguson and Washington’s congressional delegation expect to see approved.

According to the governor’s office, first responders had conducted at least 629 rescues and 572 assisted evacuations. As many as 100,000 people had been under evacuation orders at times, many of them in the flood plain of the Skagit River north of Seattle.



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