A second-half surge made this contest one worth watching (!!!)
The Sacramento Kings snapped their seven-game losing streak in a 112-101 victory over the Brooklyn Nets in their one-night home stand on Wednesday. This was a fun contest that carried shades of loss to Philly on Saturday night – minus the meltdown. A balanced attack and a game of runs threaded the needle between four frames, with solid contributions from all whose numbers were called.
De’Aaron Fox missed his seventh consecutive game with ankle soreness, Fox has not played since January 19th, where he injured his ankle during a loss to the Detroit Pistons.
Sacramento opened the contest with a combination of high intensity, interest, effort and efficiency on both the offensive and defensive end of the floor. It didn’t take long for Brooklyn to string together a 14-0 run, led by Kyrie Irving’s back-to-back triples that truly could have been missed in the blink of an eye.
Nets’ big man Nic Claxton was one off from tying his career-high 18 points in the first half of play. Claxton was aggressive getting to the free throw line in stark contrast as the Kings did not make it to the charity stripe until 2:30 in the second quarter.
The Kings opened the third frame with a bounce that cut the lead to 4 points, with a combined effort from Davion Mitchell and Harrison Barnes – both of which were pillars of keeping this game close in the first half. A defensive brand of basketball steered at Mitchell’s helm was thrilling to watch as Sacramento battled back. Out scoring the Nets 29-24 in the third, the Kings cut only trailed by one possession at closing time.
A six-point swing led to Sacramento’s 92-86 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the contest. Success was found beyond the arc, while the Kings were also finally getting opportunities at the charity stripe.
Defense won this game. It was huge down the stretch with key moments from Off Night, Metu and Hali. More importantly – the Kings were able to snuff out James Harden and Kyrie Irving and earned this victory.