Buzzer Beater: Undermanned Sacramento Kings pasted by the Nets

The hobbled Sacramento Kings limped through a 116-97 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night to start a four-game road trip.

The Kings hit just 4 of 26 3-point tries as they played without injured guards De’Aaron Fox and Bogdan Bogdanovic. Harrison Barnes had 18 points and Buddy Hield had 16 for the Kings (6-8), who trailed by double digits for almost the entirety of the second half. Rookie Justin James, who played in only four of the Kings’ prior games, had 14 points in extended play off the bench.

With Yogi Ferrell and James getting extended floor time in the first half, the Kings managed to stay in range despite hitting just 1 of 10 3-point tries. The Nets, meanwhile, opened the bomb bay doors. They hit 8 of 23 3-point attempts in the first half.

Hield and Barnes carried the scoring load, racking up 14 and 11 in the first half, respectively.

But the Nets came out with a burst early in the third quarter to almost instantly go up by double digits. Brooklyn led 86-70 after three quarters in a game that was never in much doubt.

The Kings head to Washington for a game at the start of a back-to-back Sunday. They play the Celtics on Monday.

Hello, old friend

The NBA is a small fraternity of about 450 players, many of whom have played with or against each other at one time or another. It’s a tie that binds.

Kings assistant coach Bobby Jackson couldn’t resist talking a little smack to former King Iman Shumpert. It worked. As Jackson helped the Kings work out on one end of the floor, Shumpert clanked three straight shots and called out to Jackson to talk a little smack.

Shumpert later came over to talk to Kings coaches and announcer Grant Napear.

Meanwhile, Kings coach Luke Walton was asked in his pregame news conference about Richard Jefferson, who does color commentary for the Nets. Walton shook his head quickly side to side, acting like he’d never heard of him.

“Who?” Walton said.

The reporter persisted. Richard. Jefferson. Pronouncing it slowly and loudly. You know, the guy you went to college at Arizona with. Walton finally cracked a smile.

“I’ve known him for a long time. We’ll leave it at that.”

Nets shorthanded without Irving

Sure, the Kings were without Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Aaron Fox, but it’s worth noting the Nets were without one of the top players in the NBA this year. Kyrie Irving missed his fourth straight game with a shoulder injury. The guard is averaging 28.5 points and 7.2 assists in his 11 games this year. Both averages are career bests.

Irving remains a hot topic off the floor. The Nets play the Boston Celtics on Wednesday and Friday next week. That would be Irving’s most-recent team, where he left behind some burned bridges when the Celtics flamed out in the second round of the playoffs.

Naturally, there’s rampant speculation Irving is trying to duck the Celtics, particularly in Boston, where he could be booed by disappointed fans.

By comparison, the game with the Kings flew under the radar.

Sacramento Kings upcoming schedule

Nov. 24 at Washington Wizards

Nov. 25 at Boston Celtics

Nov. 27 at Philadelphia 76ers

Nov. 30 vs. Denver Nuggets

Dec. 2 vs. Chicago Bulls

This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 6:54 PM.