Nets at Kings
The Sacramento Kings have no margin for error in the Western Conference playoff race as they enter Tuesday's home contest against the Brooklyn Nets. Sacramento is six games behind the eighth-place Los Angeles Clippers with 13 contests to play as it seeks to end its 12-season postseason drought.
The Kings haven't managed back-to-back wins in over five weeks but will try to end that rut after whipping the Chicago Bulls 129-102 on Sunday night. "Whether we talk about it or not, it feels like every game is a must-win coming out of the (All-Star) break," Sacramento coach Dave Joerger told reporters after the victory. "Just to have a little bit of mental relief is good for us at this point in the season." Brooklyn stands seventh in the Eastern Conference but is having its own issues by losing the first three contests of a seven-game road swing, including Sunday night's 119-116 last-second loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. "I don't believe in moral victories, so to me this is a tough loss," veteran small forward DeMarre Carroll told reporters of the Nets rallying from a 10-point deficit with 62 seconds left before losing. "We've got to learn from it. But at the end of the day we've got to get ready for Sacramento."
TV: 10 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), NBCS California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE NETS (36-36): All-Star guard D'Angelo Russell made six 3-pointers while recording 32 points and 10 assists against the Clippers as he displayed signs of breaking out of a shooting slump. Russell made 13-of-25 shots against Los Angeles after being a paltry 25-of-79 over the previous four games, when he averaged just 15.8 points. Carroll matched his season high of 22 points against the Clippers after tallying five or fewer points in three of the previous four games.
ABOUT THE KINGS (34-35): Rookie forward Marvin Bagley III continues to emerge as a future star and he recorded 21 points and nine rebounds in the victory over the Bulls. "I'm just doing whatever I can to help the team," Bagley said afterward. "We had a tough couple games on the road. We had to lock in. This was a must-win game for us and we were doing whatever we could to get over the hump." Shooting guard Buddy Hield made two 3-pointers to increase his season total to 231, just nine shy of the club mark set by Peja Stojakovic during the 2003-04 campaign.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Russell recorded 31 points and eight assists as the Nets rolled to a 123-94 victory over the Kings on Jan. 21.
2. Brooklyn G Spencer Dinwiddie was just 2-of-16 shooting while scoring 13 points against the Clippers.
3. Sacramento rookie F Harry Giles III scored 16 points against the Bulls and has reached double digits in six of the past nine games.