Two teams that have removed their disguises since Halloween and reverted back to playoff-contending basketball squads hook up Tuesday when the Brooklyn Nets complete a three-game California by visiting the Sacramento Kings.
The Nets were 1-5 and Kings 1-4 before Halloween victories sent them upward in the standings, with Brooklyn winning five of eight and Sacramento five of seven.
The Nets saw a two-game winning streak slip away in a 116-103 road loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday in a game in which the visitors couldn’t get a handle on versatile big man Anthony Davis, who dominated with 37 points and 18 rebounds.
The Kings have a similar talent in Domantas Sabonis, who not only posted a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double in a head-to-head with Davis on Friday, he followed that with 26 points and 22 rebounds in a 122-115 home win over the Golden State Warriors on Monday.
Acquired by the Kings from the Indiana Pacers last February, Sabonis averaged 14.4 points and 9.2 rebounds in Sacramento’s 1-4 start. But his numbers since then – 20.4 points, 12.9 rebounds – have been difference-making.
As a career-long Eastern Conference player before the February trade, Sabonis has plenty of history against the Nets. He recorded triple-doubles in three of his last six games against them, including one at Indiana in January in which Kevin Durant stole the show with 39 points in a 129-121 Brooklyn win.
Like Sabonis against the Nets in the East, Durant had more than his fair share of success against the Kings while a 12-year Western Conference player for the Seattle SuperSonics, Oklahoma City Thunder and Warriors before joining Brooklyn in 2020.
He’s never faced the Kings as a member of the Nets. In his last seven games against the Kings, all victories, Durant averaged 30.7 points, shot 54 percent and recorded two double-doubles.
Durant has scored at least 26 points in all 14 Nets games this season. He had 27 in a trip-opening 110-95 win over the Los Angeles Clippers Saturday, before putting up 31 in Sunday’s loss to the Lakers.
His season-opening run of 26-point games is the longest since Michael Jordan began the 1989 season with 16.
Nets coach Jacque Vaughn thought his team ran out of gas against the Lakers in a game in which Kyrie Irving (suspension), Ben Simmons (sore left knee), Nic Claxton (irritation in left eye) and Seth Curry (rest) were unavailable on the second day of a back-to-back.
All except Irving are expected back in Sacramento. The Nets are 4-2 during Irving’s team-imposed suspension.
Attempting to complete a comeback after fighting an uphill battle from the opening tip, Vaughn said he took a calculated risk and played Durant the first 20 minutes of the second half against the Lakers. He wound up going 38 minutes.
