Nets end 16 game skid with 109 100 road win over Kings

Brook Lopez had 24 points and eight rebounds, and the Brooklyn Nets never trailed in snapping a 16-game losing streak by defeating the Sacramento Kings 109-100 on Wednesday night. (Photo: Brooklyn Nets/ Facebook)

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Brook Lopez had 24 points and eight rebounds, and the Brooklyn Nets never trailed in snapping a 16-game losing streak by defeating the Sacramento Kings 109-100 on Wednesday night.

The Nets’ previous win was Jan. 20 at New Orleans. They had dropped 27 of 28 games since beating Charlotte on Dec. 26. The franchise record for consecutive losses is 18 by the 2009-10 team that went 12-70, another low mark in club history.

Jeremy Lin scored 17 points, Isaiah Whitehead had 14 and Caris LeVert finished with 13 for the NBA-worst Nets (10-49). Brooklyn made 11 3-pointers and shot 46 per cent.

Sacramento rookie Buddy Hield hit four 3-pointers and scored 16 points. Ty Lawson and Tyreke Evans both had 15 points, and Aaron Afflalo added 14. The Kings have lost three straight and are 1-3 since trading DeMarcus Cousins to the Pelicans in a blockbuster deal.

Evans hit a 3 and followed with a jumper, pulling the Kings to 99-93 with 2:34 remaining. A basket by Lawson with 30 seconds left cut the margin to four, but Randy Foye made two free throws and Lin added two more to secure the victory.

The Kings (25-36) fell three games behind eighth-place Denver for the final Western Conference playoff spot and are tied with Minnesota for ninth.

The Nets got off to a fast start, making six 3-pointers in the first quarter in taking a 35-31 lead. They led by three at halftime and outscored cold-shooting Sacramento 24-18 in the third quarter to take a nine-point lead into the fourth.

TIP-INS

Nets: Lopez had a second-quarter dunk to become the second player in Nets history to surpass 10,000 points. He has 10,014 and trails only Buck Williams (10,440). … This was the third stop on an eight-game road trip, their longest of the season.

Kings: Rookie big man Skal Labissiere started his first game after several recent promising performances. … Sacramento is clearly lacking an interior presence without Cousins. Starting centre Kosta Koufos missed all seven shots and went scoreless in nearly 25 minutes.

UP NEXT

Nets: The long road trip continues Friday night at Utah.

Kings: Have three days off before facing Utah on Sunday.