Two teams that have found no luck in the NBA Cup return to the traditional schedule Sunday night when the Brooklyn Nets visit the Sacramento Kings.
Sunday’s matchup pits two of the league’s surging scorers against each other, as the Nets’ Cameron Johnson (19.3 points per game) will square off against the Kings’ De’Aaron Fox (28.8).
Johnson racked up 34 points in a 116-115 home win over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday and then tallied 37 in a 113-98 loss at Philadelphia on Friday to tip off a four-game trip. Friday’s total fell one short of matching a career high for Johnson, which he set with Phoenix against New York in March 2022.
Johnson has shot 25-for-41 (61 percent) overall and 15-for-25 (60 percent) on 3-pointers in his two-game flurry. His nine 3-pointers 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.
“When you play with people like Ben and Schro, they’re able to find you,” he said. “Just know that those looks are coming. There’ll be days I make them. There’ll be days I miss them. I’ll just keep shooting.”
Only two teammates joined Johnson in double figures against the 76ers. Cam Thomas had 18 points, while Nic Claxton came off the bench for 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 defeat dropped them to 1-2 in the NBA Cup, knocking them out of contention in East Group A.
The Kings also suffered a second Cup loss Friday, falling 104-88 on the road to the Los Angeles Clippers. They are 0-2 in West Group A.
Fox had 29 points against the Clippers, giving him five straight games with 28 or more. The stretch includes 60 and 49 points in back-to-back games against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz, respectively, last week.
The reigning Western Conference Player of the Week was rejoined in the Sacramento lineup in LA by co-stars Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan. But according to coach Mike Brown, the Kings forgot to pack something for the overnight trip south: Their energy.
“That first half was probably … if it wasn’t the worst half of basketball I’ve seen us play since I’ve been here, it was close,” Brown observed. “We were not a step slower, we were three to four steps slower to whatever was going on … On both ends of the floor.”
Returning from a two-game absence due to a sore back, Sabonis was healthy enough to put in 40 minutes against the Clippers. He accumulated 24 points and 15 rebounds.
DeRozan, who had missed three straight with back issues, shot poorly in his return, going 6-for-19 overall and 0-for-5 on 3-pointers. He finished with 16 points in 36 minutes.
The Kings swept each of the last two season series from the Nets, winning the two games last year by a total of 43 points. The Nets haven’t won at Sacramento since February of 2021.
