Pearl Washington Engineers a Nets’ Rally That Overcomes Jazz, 106-95

Pearl Washington has had a tough time adjusting to life in the NBA.

He has been booed by New Jersey Nets fans, glued to the bench more often than not and wondering what went wrong since he left Syracuse.

For at least one night, Washington forgot about all his problems as he engineered a rally Monday night that saw the Nets score the final 16 points and defeat the Utah Jazz, 106-95.

“It feels great. It was like being at school again,” said Washington, who scored 15 of his 24 points in the second half as the Nets rallied from an 18-point third-period deficit.

“I was making a lot of steals, scoring and passing,” said Washington, who hit 10 of 17 shots from the field, grabbed seven rebounds, had seven assists and was credited with four steals.

Washington had four points in the Nets final spurt, while John Bagley had six and Mike Gminski added four more.

New Jersey trailed 95-90 after Darrell Griffith hit a jumper for Utah with 2:50 to play. But the Nets, who outscored the Jazz 35-10 in the last quarter, held them scoreless the rest of the way for the win, only their fourth in 22 games this season.