Nets refuse to make excuses

WASHINGTON — The Nets fell to 0-5 on the tail end of back-to-backs, but can’t blame fatigue. The NBA admitted the refs blew a string of calls down the stretch in Friday’s collapse that should’ve gone Brooklyn’s way, but the Nets can’t point at the refs.

After a 102-88 loss to the Wizards on Saturday that ran their skid to six games, the Nets can only point the finger at themselves.

“They played back-toback, too, so you can’t use that as an excuse,” D’Angelo Russell said.

“There ain’t no excuses,” Ed Davis said. “You can’t use fatigue in the NBA. They were on a back-to-back, too. They played Philly last night at Philly. We played at home, same amount of travel time pretty much. There’s no excuses.

“We’ve got to get the job done. We had [Friday] in our pockets, we gave it to them. We were up 12 against Philly, we were up eight going into the fourth quarter against Utah. You have to finish those things out because you have nights like [Saturday] where you’re struggling. This is what the NBA is all about: When you’ve got a team down, you’ve got to stomp on them.”

Coach Kenny Atkinson had the same message regarding the NBA Last Two Minute Report showing that of the eight incorrect calls in the final two minutes of regulation and overtime Friday, six went against the Nets.

“You can have frustration or not have frustration, but from our perspective, we’re only looking at our mistakes, what did the Nets do, our breakdowns,” Atkinson said. “[Calls are] something we can’t control. ... They could do a two minute report on us, there’d be plenty of mistakes in there.”

Joe Harris (adductor) missed a second straight game but could face the Cavaliers on Monday.

“Joe is day-to-day. I’m optimistic for Monday,” Atkinson said. “I think it’s trending in the right direction.”

The Nets would “very much like to keep” Spencer Dinwiddie “long term” but only at their price, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on a Saturday interview with Fordham student station WFUV.

Dinwiddie’s custom sneakers Saturday — which he auctions off for his charity — were an homage to Harriet Tubman.