Sacramento Kings blast Brooklyn Nets to stay in hunt for No. 6 seed in Western Conference

The Sacramento Kings needed to correct their course as the regular season winds down and they continue a difficult final road trip.

The Kings bounced back from back-to-back tough losses with a lopsided 107-77 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday at Barclays Center, giving them their first victory since beating the Los Angeles Clippers April 2.

De’Aaron Fox scored 20 points with five rebounds and three assists for the Kings (45-33), who are one game behind the Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans for the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference.

Domantas Sabonis registered 18 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists. Sacramento’s bench outscored Brooklyn’s 42-26.

“Our guys did what they were supposed to do tonight,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “Obviously, Brooklyn was shorthanded, and our guys came in and did a heck of a job defending.”

The Nets were held to their lowest point total of the season. Their previous low was 81 on Feb. 27 against Orlando. Brooklyn shot 35% from the floor, its third-lowest mark of the year.

The Kings bounced back from a 13-point third quarter to outscore the Nets 18-10 in the fourth before taking Fox and Sabonis out with 3:36 remaining while leading by 22. Kings fans inside the arena chanted “light the beam” in the final minutes.

Sacramento had 26 fast break points and limited Brooklyn to seven. They had 12 blocks, which was a new season high. Keegan Murray led the team with a career high of four.

“Every game’s important,” Murray said. “We just wanted to come out with energy and effort, and I feel like we started that and it just carried over throughout the game.”

The highlight of the night for the Kings came early in the fourth quarter when Davion Mitchell stole a pass and jetted up court, finding Fox for an alley-oop dunk. The connection came after Fox tried throwing a lob to Mitchell in the first half that proved unsuccessful.

“I think he should have went and got it,” Fox said of the missed attempt in the first half. “I think he’s too heavy now. I don’t think he jumps that high anymore. High school and college Davion would have got it for sure.”

Mitchell said the lob attempt caught him by surprise.

“Honestly, I thought he was going to throw it to Domas down the middle,” Mitchell said. “I didn’t know it was coming to me. So I’m not even timing my steps up. He just ended up throwing it, and I was like, ‘Oh, man.’ Everyone was clowning me.”

Neither team shot well in the first quarter while the Kings jumped out to a 10-point lead. But Mitchell sparked Sacramento’s offense with 10 points and two made 3s in the frame. Reserve Trey Lyles got going in the second quarter, scoring nine points while the Kings outscored the Nets 36-21.

Lyles made all five of his shots in the first half as the Kings outscored the Nets by 28 points in Lyles’ 15 first-half minutes. He finished with his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Lyles missed nine games from March 13-29 with a sprained MCL in his left knee. His return to the lineup on March 31 came one game after Malik Monk was lost to the same injury. After Monk, Lyles has been Sacramento’s most reliable bench player over the past two seasons.

And while Lyles is scoring 8.0 points per game on 37% shooting from distance with the Kings, he has been perhaps even more valuable as a veteran voice in a mostly young and inexperienced locker room.

“I think he’s big for us because he’s been on teams that have been in the playoffs,” Fox said. “Even when he’s not making shots as a floor spacer, he still effects the game. Just being able to carve out a role in this league is hard to do. Trey’s in year nine — which, a lot of times, it doesn’t feel like he’s almost 10 years in. When you’ve been around that long, you find ways to affect the team regardless if you’re playing or not.”

Lyles called the players-only meeting in Denver following a blowout loss to the Nuggets that helped spur a key win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“(I) try to be a leader out there on the court and on the bench,” Lyles said. “I try to keep guys levelheaded and, when I see something, point it out.”

Brown said about Lyles: “He gives us a lot. He’s steady. He’s really, really even-keeled. As a guy that’s going to speak up — it’s good to have a guy that’s not afraid. And he’s not afraid at all. ... Whenever there’s a problem or something like that in front of us, at the end of the day, the respect level is so high for him because he plays so hard and people know he cares.”

Brown gave rookie second-round pick Colby Jones early minutes at guard while he continues to tinker with the rotation with Monk and Kevin Huerter injured.

Jones was active, giving the Kings an energy boost after playing late in Friday’s loss to the Boston Celtics. He had five points, two rebounds, two assists, two blocks and made a 3 in his first 10 minutes.

The Kings took a 65-40 lead into halftime, but they went scoreless for the first 5:22 of the second half while the Nets trimmed the deficit to 15.

Murray began to assert himself in the third quarter following a slow start. He made four baskets, including a 3, and scored nine of Sacramento’s 13 points in the period. Murray finished with 19 points.

The Nets, playing on the second night of a back-to-back after beating the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, were missing starting center Nic Claxton (left ankle sprain), forward Cameron Johnson (left big toe sprain) and swingman Dorian Finney-Smith (left knee effusion).

Sabonis extended his double-double streak to 61 games, which is the seventh-longest streak in NBA history. He passed Elvin Hayes, who had 60 straight from October 1968 to February 1969.

Asked if he pays attention to his streak, Sabonis said, “Not yet. Maybe in the summer. But right now, we got four games left. We’re in this race and we’re looking at the standings every day.”

Brown reacts to blown call

The NBA in its Last 2 Minute report for the Kings’ loss to the Celtics confirmed what was apparent in the final seconds: Jones was fouled when he was hit in the face by Celtics guard Svi Mykhailuk while attempting a go-ahead putback with 1.9 seconds remaining.

“Selfishly speaking, we’re fighting for our playoff lives,” Brown said before Sunday’s game. “I saw a guy get smacked in real time and it wasn’t called, and to have the 2 Minute Report come out and us lose the ball game, it makes it tough.”

Brown reiterated what he has mentioned multiple times during the three games in New York and Boston: The team has been on the wrong side of the free-throw disparity in two recent defeats to the Dallas Mavericks March 29 and New York Knicks on Thursday. Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson each shot more free throws than Sacramento as a team, and then the Kings got a tough break with the no-call on Jones, who would have been given two free throws and a chance to take to the lead.

“We were outshot from the free-throw line 62 to 22 in two games ... and those are your three losses when you’re fighting for your playoff lives,” Brown said. “It makes it tough to swallow. But in the same breath, I gotta sit back and say (the referees) are human. They’re going to do what they do and we just have to accept it and move forward.”

Playoff race

The Kings went into Sunday’s game a half-game behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference. If they finish ninth or 10th, they will have to win two games in the play-in tournament to reach the playoffs. The teams that finish seventh and eighth will only need one win to secure a playoff berth.

The Kings are one game behind the Suns and Pelicans for the No. 6 seed and an automatic playoff bid. The Kings will play host to the Pelicans on Thursday and the Suns on Friday.

“The neat part about it is, we’re still in position to figure this thing out, because there’s five games left,” Brown said. “If we take care of our business the right way and get a little lucky, maybe we have a chance of avoiding the play-in.”