“Just keep playing the right way, keep playing hard,” added Bridges, who finished with eight points and five rebounds on a night Brooklyn needed much more to contend with a potential playoff team.
The Nets (31-48) opened this final four-game homestand with a pair of impressive wins, including last Wednesday’s 115-111 triumph over playoff-bound Indiana.
Though Brooklyn was officially eliminated from play-in tournament consideration with Atlanta’s victory over league-worst Detroit that night, the Nets had to be looking forward to making it 3-0 vs. the Kings (45-33) after dispensing the Pistons, 113-103, on Saturday.
Instead, Sacramento ran out to a 10-point, first-quarter advantage and stretched it to 65-40 at intermission.
Domantas Sabonis piled up 18 points and 20 boards for the Kings, extending his personal streak of double-doubles to 61 at the Nets’ expense.
“He’s such a competitor,” Kings coach Mike Brown said of Sabonis. “His competitive nature in my opinion is the thing that just drives him. He very seldom takes plays off. …He never stops. ”
Cam Thomas led Brooklyn in scoring for the seventh straight game with 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting.
Second-year power forward Trendon Watford continued his late-season emergence with 16 points and rookie Jalen Wilson added 11 points and six rebounds for the Nets, who were without injured starters Dorian Finney-Smith, Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton.
Brooklyn found a way to contend following the half, outscoring Sacramento 24-13 over the next 12 minutes, but the Nets managed only 13 points of their own in the fourth quarter while the Kings cruised to their first win in three tries on a four-game trip.
“I was happy with the guys’ effort in the second half,” Nets interim coach Kevin Ollie noted. “It was great. That third quarter,…
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