Despite a late 4th quarter charge, the Sacramento Kings held on to beat the Brooklyn Nets 104-99 on Wednesday. The Kings were finishing up a four-game road trip, but were without rookie De’Aaron Fox who was re-injured yesterday.
The Kings started the game exceptionally well, letting Zach Randolph and Bogdan Bogdanovic run the offense. Randolph collected his 10,000th career rebound tonight, becoming the 39th player to do so. He also becomes the 20th player with 18,000 points and 10,000 rebounds. They finished the first quarter with a 36-20 lead, shooting 76.2% from the floor including 4 three’s. The gap remained around 15 points as the Nets improved marginally in the 2nd quarter. Buddy Hield struggled to shoot in the first half, missing all six of his shots. The Kings entered halftime up 64-47.
Sacramento started to slump after halftime as per usual this season, allowing Brooklyn to close the gap to single digits. DeMarre Carroll and Spencer Dinwiddie led the charge for the Nets and took advantage of the Kings defensive breakdowns. They outscored the Kings 27-22 in the 3rd to shrink the gap to 11. Brooklyn carried this momentum into the 4th quarter as Sacramento continued to struggle down the stretch. After closing the gap to three with a minute and a half left, two bad mistakes from Garrett Temple kept the Nets hopes alive. However, the Nets failed to capitalize on the late chances, coming up just short as Sacramento emerged victorious.
George Hill scored 21 points for Sacramento while Dinwiddie led the Nets with 16. The Kings return home on Saturday to take on the San Antonio Spurs.
