November 14, 2015, Queens, NY The Brooklyn Nets had a chance to win two in a row, and for a good while, it seemed like it would happen, but the Sacramento Kings fought back, took the lead, and held off the Nets to win, 111-109. The Nets are now 1-8, and the Kings are 3-7.
But the real story was DeMarcus Cousins who poured in 40 points and grabbed 13 boards. Cousins led the Kings’ comeback in the third quarter when he scored 19 consecutive points. Cousins has been embroiled in controversy because of his very contentious relationship with coach, George Karl. Cousins threw another one of his tantrums after the Kings lost to the San Antonio Spurs earlier in the week. He later apologized. Karl wanted to suspend him but Kings GM, Vlade Divac, did not go along with the suspension. Divac’s actions seemed to undermine Karl who has been under fire and the subject of rumors that have him being relieved of his coaching duties.
Rajon Rondo was equally impressive for the Kings. He scored 23 points, dished out 14 assists to go with 10 rebounds for a triple-double. It was his 25th career triple-double and his second triple-double in a row. Since the 2008-2009 season, Rondo has the most triple-doubles in the Association, being trailed by LeBron James who has 22. Ben McLemore and Marco Belinelli added 15 and 14 points respectively.
Five Nets players scored in double figures with Jarrett Jack leading his teammates with 21 points and 12 assists. The other four players that scored 14 points or more were Brook Lopez (17), Thaddeus Young (16), Bojan Bogdanovic (15), and Joe Johnson (14).
The Nets had a chance to tie or win the game after a Rondo turnover on an inbound play; however, Kings’ rookie Willie Cauley-Stein deflected the Nets inbound pass to Rondo as time expired.
It doesn’t get easier for the Nets as they remain in-state (California) to face the defending champions, Golden State Warriors, led by MVP, Steph Curry. The game beings at 10:30 p.m. (EST) and will be broadcast on the YES Network.
Professor Clifford Benton can be reached at @cliffordbenton.