The Kings finished their five-game homestand with disappointing 117-104 loss to the Houston Rockets on Friday evening. After a nice stretch of home cooking, they hit the road for six straight beginning Sunday with the Brooklyn Nets.
Sacramento played five straight playoff contenders over the last five contests, including four division leaders. The schedule gets decidedly easier, but nothing on the road comes easy in the NBA. Coach Dave Joerger has mixed and matched his lineups all season and that is likely to continue as he searches for the right combination of players to pair with DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay.
The Nets stand at 4-11 on the season, but they are a solid offensive team that just can’t stop anyone. Third-year wings Sean Kilpatrick and Bojan Bogdanovic are both off to great starts under new head coach Kenny Atkinson and free agent acquisition Trevor Booker is stuffing the stat sheet alongside veteran Brook Lopez.
OPENING LINE:
Kings by 4.5
MATCHUP TO WATCH:
DeMarcus Cousins vs. Brook Lopez -- Cousins hit a career-high five 3-pointers on Friday night, including four during a wild two minute stretch of the fourth quarter. The two-time All-Star is putting up incredible numbers again this season, posting 27.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 33.6 minutes per game. Lopez continues to fill up the basket, averaging 20.1 points in just 26.5 minutes a game, but he grabs just 5.0 rebounds a night.
WHERE THEY STAND:
Kings: 6-10, fourth place in Pacific
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Nets: 4-11, fourth place in Atlantic
INJURY REPORT:
Kings: No injuries to report.
Nets: PG Jeremy Lin (hamstring) out, SF Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (ankle) questionable, G Caris LeVert (foot) out.
SERIES HISTORY:
These two clubs split the season series a year ago, with each team winning one at home. Sacramento carries a 46-37 all-time franchise lead into Sunday’s contest, but trail the Nets 31-28 during the Sacramento-era.
QUOTE“We know we’ve got some things to work on. We’ve got a six game road trip and we’ve got to set a goal. Is it going to be 3-3 is it 4-2, what do we want to do? We started out the last trip too slow and then tried to go like heck at the end of the trip. We’ve got to come out similar to this game tonight with a little bit more veracity early.” -Dave Joerger on the upcoming road trip
