Kings at Nets
The Sacramento Kings will not be home again until after the All-Star break and left for a four-game road trip with a bitter taste after a 107-102 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings will try to bounce back when they kick off the trip by visiting the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.
Sacramento has dropped five of its last six games, with the lone win in that span coming over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday in a game Cousins missed with a strained ankle. The All-Star center was back in the lineup on Wednesday and collected 30 points and 11 rebounds, but the Kings struggled to defend the 3-point line and are allowing an average of 114.5 points in the last six contests. The Nets, who sit 29th in the NBA with an average of 95.6 points through Wednesday, should not put quite as much stress on that defense. Brooklyn reached triple digits on the scoreboard in each of the last three games but lost them all as part of a five-game slide.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSN California (Sacramento), YES (Brooklyn)
ABOUT THE KINGS (21-28): Sacramento was facing a Chicago team without All-Star guard Jimmy Butler and instead allowed E’Twaun Moore to score a career-high 24 points. “Everybody comes in and scores career highs,” Kings guard Rajon Rondo told reporters. “... It seems like every other game it’s not a star player, it’s the other guys. Maybe it’s a lack of focus, maybe we don’t respect these guys. They get paid just like we do and they’re making the best of it.” The Kings are last in the NBA in scoring defense, allowing an average of 108.1 points.
ABOUT THE NETS (12-38): Brooklyn can relate to the lack of focus after letting a tight game against the Indiana Pacers get out of hand in the second quarter of Wednesday’s 114-100 loss. “It seems like every game we have a mental lapse,” Nets swingman Joe Johnson told reporters. “Whether it’s just turnovers, or - I have no idea. I wish - I don’t know. Just, we hurt ourselves from time to time.” Johnson has recently been the subject of trade rumors and showed off for opposing teams with 20 points and nine assists on Wednesday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Brooklyn C Brook Lopez is averaging 27.3 points in the last four games.
2. Kings G Marco Belinelli scored 18 points in each of the last two games after sitting out Saturday’s loss at Memphis with an illness.
3. Sacramento snapped a three-game slide in the series with a 111-109 home win behind 40 points from Cousins on Nov. 13.