Domantas Sabonis, De’Aaron Fox lead Kings in 107-77 rout of short-handed Nets
NEW YORK — The Nets needed a 19-point comeback to overcome the lowly Detroit Pistons Saturday night. Short-handed, playing without Nic Claxton, Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Dennis Smith Jr. on Sunday, there would be no such rally in Sunday’s 107-77 loss to the Sacramento Kings at Barclays Center.
It was never a close game after the opening minutes of regulation. Brooklyn trailed by 10 points after one quarter and was down 25 points by halftime. It was able to trim Sacramento’s advantage to 14 points by the end of the third quarter, but three quick turnovers by Cam Thomas, Trendon Watford and Lonnie Walker IV pushed the Kings’ lead back to 20 and Mike Brown‘s team never looked back, closing the game on a 21-11 run.
Thirty-three points proved to be the Nets’ largest deficit Sunday night. They committed 17 turnovers, which led to 22 points for Sacramento. They were also outscored 48-42 in the paint, 26-7 in transition, and the Kings’ reserves outscored Brooklyn’s depleted bench 42-26.
The Nets fell to 31-48 with the loss. And even though they have already been eliminated from postseason consideration, they have still won five of their last eight games.
Rookie center Noah Clowney had been on a tear over his last two appearances entering the night, which earned him his first career start against Sacramento. His latest “welcome to the NBA” moment was a trial by fire against Kings forward Domantas Sabonis, and Sabonis dominated the matchup, finishing with 18 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists.
Clowney scored just seven points after reaching double figures in each of his last two games entering the night but did haul in a team-high 10 rebounds. He had just eight attempts overall, none of which were from behind the arc.
Dennis Schroder, who had not missed a game since putting on a Nets uniform, was listed as questionable entering the night because of right Achilles tendinitis but was later upgraded to available. However, it was clear that the German guard was not 100% and probably played just to give Brooklyn another healthy body. He went 1 of 12 from the field in 30 minutes of action but did chip in seven rebounds and six assists.
Thomas finished with a game-high 21 points but did it on an 8-of-18 shooting night. De’Aaron Fox shook off a slow start and wound up leading the Kings with 20 points.
Brooklyn’s final three regular-season games are against the Raptors on Wednesday, the Knicks on Friday and 76ers on Sunday.
