Nets defeat Kings to snap 16-game slide
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Brook Lopez scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and the Brooklyn Nets ended their 16-game losing streak Wednesday with a 109-100 victory over the Sacramento Kings at the Golden 1 Center.
Lopez, in his ninth season and the longest-tenured Net in team history, made 9 of 17 shots from the field and went over the 10,000-point mark for his career as Brooklyn prevailed for the first since Jan. 20. The Nets hadn't won since a 143-114 rout at New Orleans.
Jeremy Lin scored 17 points and Isaiah Whitehead added 14 points off the bench as Brooklyn (10-49) never trailed in winning for only the second time in their past 29 contests since Dec. 26. Brooklyn led by as many as 15 points.
The Kings (25-36) got as close as 103-99 in the closing minutes, but Nets veterans Randy Foye and Lin each made two free throws apiece in the final 22 seconds to secure Brooklyn's third road win in 28 tries.
Buddy Hield scored 16 points to lead Sacramento, matching his best effort since being acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans last month. Hield made his first three 3-pointers, then went 1 for 3, including a miss with Sacramento down 99-93 with just over two minutes left. Lopez then hit a short shot from the key for a 101-93 Brooklyn lead.
Tyreke Evans added 15 points for Sacramento as did Ty Lawson. Arron Afflalo, back after a three-game absence because of a tight hamstring, scored 14, but the Kings shot only 43 percent from the field and put up 41 points total in the second and third quarters.
Sacramento's scoring struggles seemed to be summed up in one third-quarter possession. Down 85-78, Evans got a step on a drive to the basket, missed a layup and then missed his own tap. Center Willie Cauley-Stein rebounded that miss, then tossed up an airball on a shovel shot from about 8 feet.
Whitehead then knocked down two free throws and after a Kings timeout and miss, former King Quincy Acy nailed a 3-pointer for a 90-78 lead, and Brooklyn held on from there.
NOTES: Nets F Brook Lopez joined Buck Williams as the only Nets to tally 10,000 career points. Williams finished with 10,440 points in his eight seasons with the team. Lopez is in his ninth season. ...Sacramento coach Dave Joerger gave rookie F Skal Labissiere his first career start and used his fourth starting lineup in four games since the team jettisoned franchise F DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans, and his 17th overall this season. ... According to a Serbian newspaper, G Milos Tedosic, a 30-year-old former Euroleague MVP averaging 16.5 points and 7.5 assists for Moscow, has drawn the Nets' interest. ... In four games since trading Cousins, Sacramento produced one 20-point scoring game and their leading scorer is center Willie Cauley Stein at 13.5 points per game. ... Brooklyn doesn't play another home game until March 12.