When: February 5, 2016; 7:30 PM EST
Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY
TV: YES Network
Radio: WFAN 660 AM
The Nets have lost 10 of their last 11 games and, with less than half of the season left to play, are undoubtedly sliding toward one of the NBA’s worst records without the comfort of a lottery pick at the end of the tunnel. But, their schedule eases up over the next few weeks as Brooklyn tries to at least creep back to respectability. That stretch of games starts tonight at home against the Sacramento Kings, who are a talented team but are as inconsistent as they come.
DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento’s franchise cornerstone and perpetual enigma, is having another dominant season statistically, averaging over 27 points and 11 rebounds per game. He was also named as an All-Star for the second time in his career and it was certainly a deserved honor, as Cousins — even with a franchise that might rival the Nets for front office, coaching and roster instability — has developed into, arguably, the NBA’s best center.
Sacramento, which is coming off a 107-102 loss to the Bulls on Wednesday, has lost five of its last six games overall following a five-game winning streak. This kind of stop-and-start inconsistency has plagued George Karl’s team all season, but it, remarkably, is just 2.5 games out of the No. 8 spot in the relatively down Western Conference. A major reason for that has been Cousins’ play, of course, but also the contributions of Rudy Gay (who’s shooting a career high 47 percent from the field) and Rajon Rondo, whose numbers are rivaling those of his Celtics days.
This Kings team seems to be an odd mismatch of underperforming, yet extremely talented, guys that either play really well or really poorly; there’s not much of an in-between.
Probable lineups
SAC- Rajon Rondo (PG), Marco Belinelli (SG), Rudy Gay (SF), DeMarcus Cousins (PF), Willie Cauley-Stein (C)
BKN- Donald Sloan (PG), Wayne Ellington (SG), Joe Johnson (SF), Thaddeus Young (PF), Brook Lopez (C)
Final thoughts
The other time these teams played each other this season, back on November 13th in Sacramento, the Nets blew a double-digit lead as the Kings sneaked by them for a 111-109 win. In that game, Cousins scored 40 points while Rondo posted a 23-10-14 triple-double partly thanks to a Brooklyn defensive effort that was unable to stop the Kings’ play-makers. That will be the main concern for the Nets this evening.
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