SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Nets — rebuilding and caught squarely within the lottery positions — shouldn’t want a wake-up name.
However Friday’s loss to the struggling Sixers ought to function one, simply in case.
“Yeah. It don’t get no easier,” admitted red-hot wing Cam Johnson, alluding to the remainder of this four-game highway journey. “But it surely shouldn’t must be a wake-up name.
“It’s the NBA. We know who we’re playing against. We know what Sacramento brings. We know what Golden State brings. We know what Phoenix brings — and it’s really good, high-level players. So, yeah, we do. It is a bit of a wake-up call. But we understand what we’re getting ourselves into.”
Sunday marks greater than only a return to Sacramento for head coach Jordi Fernandez and assistants Dutch Gaitley and Deividas Dulkys, all former Kings staffers.
Will probably be the beginning of a grueling Western Convention gauntlet that the Nets are going to must run. Or not less than attempt to survive.
“Yeah, it’s a good test for us. We have a few good teams in the west coming up, so really we can measure ourselves, see where we’re at,” Cam Thomas mentioned. “We want to play the best and I’m sure we’ll be ready for it.”
The measurement received’t be simple.
After coping with star guard De’Aaron Fox (28.8 factors) and heart Domantas Sabonis (20.4 factors, 12.7 rebounds and 6.4 assists), the Nets will comply with with the tail finish of a troublesome back-to-back the following night time at Golden State.
The Warriors got here into the weekend main the Western Convention at 12-3 behind celebrity Stephen Curry (22.7 factors). They usually end the journey in Phoenix towards outdated buddy Kevin Durant.
The previous MVP has been sidelined and the Suns have dropped 5 straight. However they’re 8-1 with Durant and he’s anticipated again Tuesday — which means naturally he might be match to face his former Nets workforce.
Robust check certainly.
“Yeah, we’ve got some good teams coming up, backcourts and some good teams,” heart Nic Claxton mentioned. “So we know we have to be better. And if we don’t lock in, we’re going to get beat by more than what we got beat by [Friday].”
A part of locking in will likely be taking part in a cleaner recreation than they did in Friday’s begin to this journey, once they basically gave away a 113-98 loss in Philadelphia.
After having dropped 5 of six, they rallied from 17 all the way down to beat the Charlotte Hornets.
However going through a shorthanded 76ers workforce that was taking part in with out All-Stars Joel Embiid and Paul George, the Nets didn’t construct on that momentum.
The Nets dedicated 19 giveaways in Philadelphia, and bought outscored 28-12 off turnovers — together with 6-0 in a fourth-quarter collapse.
“Too many turnovers … unforced turnovers,” Thomas mentioned. “We need to play more cleaner and get ready for Sacramento.”
Thomas himself struggled, capturing simply 6 of 15 from the ground, forcing a number of ill-advised photographs and committing an ugly seven turnovers by himself. The opposite half of the backcourt, Dennis Schroder, had seven as effectively.
“Obviously, the number is not good,” Fernandez mentioned. “His seven assists is a quantity that I like lots, however not seven turnovers. So most likely he had 4 too many. Seven [assists] and three [turnovers] can be nice or will likely be good.
“And again, you see CT and Dennis with 13 [turnovers] combined, it’s not a good sign. And again, credit to [the Sixers] — because that’s what they do — but when we prepare for games, we tell the guys about what they’re gonna face and see. We didn’t execute very well.”
