Sacramento Kings to meet New Jersey Nets, shaking off Last season’s nightmares
It is about time that Sacramento Kings and New Jersey Nets come forward as respectable NBA teams. Both the teams have a lot in common. If New Jersey Nets were the worst team last season, Sacramento Kings were not that far behind, as they were near bottom too in their road wins.
Today, they are not up against each other but against the odds that did not favour any of them last season; however, they certainly motivated them in their respective season openers this season. New Jersey Nets met the Detroit Pistons in their season opener and outscored them 101-98 for victory. Remember this is the same team that started its last NBA season with a record 18 consecutive losses, so who would have believed they were the same Nets.
They owe it all to a few positive changes; a new owner assisted by a new coach at a new building with a new roster setting a new record, with a win to kick off the season. The high time for the Nets in Wednesday’s game against the Pistons was their 13-3 lead during the final one and a half minutes of the game, which was unimaginable a year ago.
Brook Lopez was the King of the night for Nets with his 25 points and nine rebounds.
So was the case with Sacramento Kings. In a seven year long dry patch their win-loss statistics in the NBA season are 1-0 for the very first time. Minnesota Timberwolves were just not lucky enough to show a more convincing performance against the Kings. Carl Landry was the Hero of the Night as he outshined others with his 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings.
Kings point guard Beno Udrih, who himself had 18 points and six assists in the game summed it all up beautifully when he reminded the fans of last season’s stats. “Kings have been 0-3 and 0-4 last season”, he said, “but opening the season with a win is always something that motivates for a couple more on the board”.
What has changed for the Nets this season is not only the roster, but the fact that their win-loss ratio was 8-33 last season at home and the record that they made was not a very nice one, as they finished off with the worst win-loss score of 12-70 games for any franchise. This season it was Avery Johnson’s debut as Nets coach. The “Little General” surely wishes to do a little magic with this team, the way he did it for Dallas Mavericks. He does not like references to last year’s Nets as he feels the team is moving forward, same is the case with Net’s point guard Devin Harris who scored a total of 22 points and nine assists in the season opener.
It is high time for Kings to go for a 2-0 opener on the road, first time in 8 years. The reigning Rookie of the year Tyreke Evans will certainly be back in the team for the big game. Evans is definitely Kings golden child for the game as his 21 points helped Kings in a 109-96 win against the Nets on November 27th, and his absence made Kings lose one against the Nets 93-79 on March 24th, last season.
The win came as a lucky one for the Nets as it ended their record 14-games home losing spree. Kings will be watching Brook Lopez very closely this game since it was his 26 points, 13 boards and four blocks that made them lose the game.
Those who favour Nets as the game favourite should keep in mind the matchup that Kings’ rookie centre DeMarcus Cousins poses to Brook Lopez. One should not forget his 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists in his NBA debut this Wednesday.
The best bet Nets have against such talent could be their Rookie Derrick Favors, who also had a solid 8 points first game in just 20 minutes.
Jordan Farmar is another Nets’ player to watch out for as this former Los Angeles Lakers’ guard hit 2 3-pointers for a total of 10 points and four assists in his first game.
If fortune favours the brave it is certainly a game to watch out for bravery by two recovering teams, who are both in as good a shape as they wish for.
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