Game 54 Preview: Nets (18-35) at Sacramento Kings (18-33)

The Nets amnestied Outlaw after he played one season of the much ballyhooed 5-yr, $35 million contract that he signed with the team. He hasn't been much better with the Kings than during his disastrous stint in New Jersey but I guess we will see for sure tonight.

Looking for their first 3-game winning streak of this shortened season, the Nets will try to build of the momentum from their last two wonderful triumphs--wins against the Pacers and Warriors--to take down the young Sacramento Kings. The Kings have tons of talent and are really young but just haven't been able to put all it together so far and that can be blamed on something as simple as immaturity. Immaturity, especially from sophomore power forward DeMarcus Cousins, is what got previous coach Paul Westphal fired and the promotion of assistant Keith Smart to the interim helm of the team. Sure, the Kings' record is pretty bad but that doesn't they aren't a good team; they just don't have the experience to be a successful team right now.

Background on Sacramento

Sacramento actually is a good match-up for this injury-depleted Nets squad because of how undersized the Kings line-up is projected to be tonight, especially in the backcourt. Natural point guard Tyreke Evans is probably going to suit up at small forward opposing Gerald Wallace which leaves the 5-9 Isiah Thomas on 6-3 Deron Williams in a battle between point guards. This match-up could be heavenly for D-Will as having a 6-inch height advantage over your opponent in the NBA means a lot of space on jump-shots and easier post-up situations. Wonderfully, those two aspects of the game are D-Will's strongest. On the other hand, the Nets have a smaller match-up issue at power forward as the Kings trot out massive 6-11, 270-pound college-star Cousins whereas the Nets have smaller, but equally tenacious, Kris Humphries who happens to be two inches and 35 pounds less than the Kentucky grad. 

Previous Game

Like the Nets did last night, the Kings won a close game in which they came back from a sizable deficit to beat the playoff-bound Utah Jazz in Utah. DeMarcus Cousins had a signature double-double performance with 27 points and 14 rebounds as Marcus Thornton shot lights out to get his 26 points. However, the real story of this game was the stifling defense that Sacramento played on the Jazz, who only shot 35 percent from the field highlighted by Derrick Favors missing all 13 of his shot attempts.

After roughly 38 minutes of terrible play, the Nets really turned it on in the last 10 minutes against the Warriors in Oakland last night. For three quarters and change, New Jersey looked disinterested in playing any defense, or offense for that matter, and even found themselves down by 19 at one point. Then the two Geralds, with Deron Williams feeding them, started to hit clutch shots and make big defensive plays to climb the Nets back into the game and eventually seal it off in the final minutes. Gerald Green had 20 points but the other Gerald, Gerald Wallace, went even crazier with 24 and 18 (rebounds that it). D-Will didn't score much but added a NBA season-high in assists with 20.

Probable Lineups 

NJN- D.Williams (PG), Brooks (SG), Wallace (SF), Humphries (PF), Petro (C)

SAC- I.Thomas (PG), Thornton (SG), Tyreke Evans (SF), Cousins (PF), Jason Thompson (C)

Three Keys to a Nets Win

1. Establish D-Will early on offense; he was only 2-13 from the field last night and getting him more involved on offense could lead to an easier win.

2. Keep up the defensive intensity; the Nets don't win last night's game without key blocks and steals down the stretch of the contest. If that continues tonight, expect a great performance hopefully leading to a win. If not, this winning streak will end.

3. Limit the turnovers; four Nets players had at least four turnovers against Golden State. Turnovers have been a major area of concern for New Jersey the whole season and they really constrict the offensive flow with how many shot opportunities they take away.