Two teams looking for a change in fortune after their NBA Cup performances will return to the traditional schedule on Sunday night when the Brooklyn Nets visit the Sacramento Kings.
Sunday’s matchup features two of the league’s surging scorers: the Nets’ Cameron Johnson, averaging 19.3 points per game, and the Kings’ De’Aaron Fox, averaging 28.8 points per game.
Johnson scored 34 points in a 116-115 home win over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday and followed it up with 37 points in a 113-98 loss at Philadelphia on Friday to start a four-game road trip. His Friday total was just one point shy of matching his career high, which he set with Phoenix against New York in March 2022.
In these two games, Johnson has shot 25-for-41 (61 percent) overall and 15-for-25 (60 percent) from three-point range. His nine three-pointers on Friday equaled his career high, also set in that Suns-Knicks matchup two years ago.
Johnson credited teammates Ben Simmons and Dennis Schroder, who combined for 11 assists on Friday, for his big night in Philadelphia.
Only two other Nets players reached double figures against the 76ers: Cam Thomas with 18 points and Nic Claxton, who came off the bench to add 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
The Nets head west having lost seven of their nine road games, including three in a row. Friday’s loss dropped them to 1-2 in the NBA Cup, eliminating them from contention in East Group A.
The Kings also suffered a second Cup loss on Friday, falling 104-88 to the Los Angeles Clippers on the road. They are now 0-2 in West Group A.
Fox scored 29 points against the Clippers, marking his fifth consecutive game with 28 or more points. This stretch includes impressive back-to-back performances last week, with 60 and 49 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz, respectively.
The reigning Western Conference Player of the Week was joined in the Sacramento lineup by co-stars
Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan. However, according to coach Mike Brown, the Kings lacked energy on their overnight trip south.
Returning from a two-game absence due to a sore back, Sabonis played 40 minutes against the Clippers, tallying 24 points and 15 rebounds.
DeRozan, who missed three straight games with back issues, struggled in his return, shooting 6-for-19 overall and 0-for-5 from three-point range, finishing with 16 points in 36 minutes.
The Kings have swept the season series against the Nets in the past two years, winning last year’s two games by a combined 43 points. The Nets haven’t won in Sacramento since February 2021.
Both teams will look to improve their standings in this highly anticipated matchup.
