The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Sacramento Kings 123-94. The Brooklyn Nets are a wagon! The Nets now have won 4 straight games, and 6 straight games at the Barclays Center. I attended this game today, and I can tell you first handed that there is a big change in the atmosphere in Brooklyn. New Nets fans are being created with every win, and for a team with a relatively small fan base that is a great sign. Let me now recap the game. The Nets and Kings were pretty even in the first half. The Nets outscored the Kings 29-23 in the first quarter, and then the Kings outscored the Nets 37-26 in the second quarter. Bogdan Bogdanovic was a big reason why the Kings had such a strong second quarter. The Nets responded by coning out red hot in the third quarter. The Nets opened up the third on a 19-4 run to take an 8 point lead. In total, the Nets outscored the Kings 38-25 in the third. The fourth quarter was total domination. The Nets outscored the Kings 30-9 in the fourth. Every shot was going down for the Nets, and the Kings couldn’t hit a single one. The Nets are now 17-5 in their last 22, with a chance to go to 19-5 with their next two games being at home against the Magic and Knicks.

The Nets were once again led by D’Angelo Russell. Russell finished with 31 points and 8 assists on 12-25 shooting and 7-14 shooting from deep. Russell was awarded the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for his performances last week, and he started out this week hot again. Joe Harris recorded 19 points and 7 rebounds on 8-14 shooting. Rodions Kurucs recorded 16 points on 7-10 shooting. Both Harris and Kurucs helped the Nets build and sustain the lead throughout the game. Kurucs played especially well in the first half, while Joe poured it on in the second half. Jarrett Allen (8 points and 12 rebounds) and Spencer Dinwiddie (11 points and 6 assists) also contributed for the Nets today. I expect the Magic to come out angry against the Nets on Wednesday because of how last Friday’s game ended, so look for the Nets to be in a fight on Wednesday.

For the Kings, Bogdan Bogdanovic led the way. Bogdanovic was very close to finishing with a triple double, as he recorded 22 points 11 assists and 6 rebounds. Bogdanovic is one of the most underrated players in the NBA, and he proved it today. Justin Jackson (14 points and 5 rebounds), Buddy Hield (11 points and 7 rebounds), and Willie Cauley-Stein (12 points and 6 rebounds) also contributed for the Kings. The Kings will look to forget this game, as they try to stay in the hunt for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. The Kings are just 1.5 games out of that 8 seed. Man is it good to play in the Eastern conference.

What’s Next?

Brooklyn remains home to take on the Magic on Wednesday, while the Kings travel to Toronto to take on the Raptors tomorrow

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