The Sacramento Kings didn’t play a stitch of defense on Friday night in Brooklyn and it cost them another loss to a sub-par team. The Nets came into the game with the NBA’s second-worst offense, averaging just 95.6 points per game. They had that, plus a few more before the end of the third quarter, on their way to a 128-119 victory over the Kings.
Brook Lopez set up camp in the key and dominated the Kings' frontline. He finished the night with 26 points on 11-for-21 shooting and added 12 rebounds in the win.
With Lopez pounding the paint, Brooklyn’s shooters launched away from the outside hitting a season-high 18 3-pointers on 28 attempts.
A 34-year-old Joe Johnson led the perimeter assault, scoring 27 points on 5-for-7 shooting from behind the arc. Johnson came into the night averaging just 11.5 points per game for a Nets team that had lost 15-of-17 coming in. He added a season-high 11 assists and six rebounds in the drubbing.
Sacramento left Bojan Bogdanovic wide open all night long and he burned them with 23 points on 7-of-9 from behind the arc. The seven makes from deep is a new career-high.
Former Kings summer league invite Donald Sloan dropped in 17 and Thaddeus Young stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.
Darren Collison continued his hot streak off the bench. The veteran point guard came into the game averaging 17.7 points per game on 55.6 percent shooting. Collison bolstered those numbers, dropping in 25 points to lead the second unit.
DeMarcus Cousins picked up his first triple-double of the season, finishing the night with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. The Kings All-Star came into the game with a long list of ailments, but showed no signs once the ball was tipped.
Cousins wasn’t the only starter that showed up on the injury report coming into the night. Rajon Rondo is struggling with turf toe, but that didn’t slow the NBA’s leading assist man. Rondo finished with 15 points and 15 assists.
Rookie Willie Cauley-Stein added 16 points and six rebounds as the Kings dropped their second straight and fell to 21-29 on the season.
STANDOUT PERFORMER
Johnson and Lopez pounded the Kings defense, combining for 53 points on 22-for-37 shooting. The Kings defense is a complete mess at this point and they are running out of time to make adjustments.
TURNING POINT
This game was over in the first quarter when the Kings decided to take the night off on the defensive end. Brooklyn scored 32 points or more in each of the first three quarters and embarrassed the Kings.
INJURY UPDATE
Rudy Gay rolled his left ankle in the early first quarter. He went to the locker room to have it re-taped and returned momentarily before shutting it down for the evening. He is listed as day-to-day with a left ankle sprain.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Kings travel to Boston for game two of their four-game eastern swing on Sunday morning. They’ll face former Kings guard and first-time All-Star Isaiah Thomas and his Celtic teammates for a 10am PST clash.
