SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A rebuilding Nets team stuck squarely in the lottery slot shouldn't need a wake-up call.
But Friday's loss to the struggling Sixers should serve as one, just in case.
“Yes. “It doesn't get any easier,” admitted red-hot winger Cam Johnson, referring to the rest of this four-game road trip. “But it shouldn't be a wake-up call.
“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 — which is a really good, high-level player. So, yeah, we do. It's a little bit of a wake-up call.” “But we understand what we are getting ourselves into.”
Sunday marks more than just a return to Sacramento for head coach Jordi Fernandez and his assistants Dutch Gaitley and Davidas Dulkes, all former Kings employees.
This will be the beginning of a grueling Western Conference challenge the Nets will have to navigate. Or at least try to survive.
“Yes, it's a good test for us. We have a few good teams in the West coming up, so we can really measure ourselves and see where we are,” Cam Thomas said. “We want to play better and I'm sure we'll be ready for that.”
Measuring won't be easy.
After dealing with star De'Aaron Fox (28.8 points) and center Domantas Sabonis (20.4 points, 12.7 rebounds, 6.4 assists), the Nets will follow a tough matchup the next night in Golden State. .
The Warriors entered the weekend leading the Western Conference at 12-3 behind superstar Stephen Curry (22.7 points). They finished the trip in Phoenix against their old friend Kevin Durant.
The former MVP has been sidelined and the Suns have lost five in a row. But they are 8-1 with Durant and is expected back on Tuesday — meaning he would naturally be fit to face the Nets' former team.
A really difficult test
“Yeah, we've got some good teams coming in, backcourts, some good teams,” quarterback Nick Claxton said. “So we know we have to be better. If we don't stick to that, we will be beaten more than we have overcome.” [Friday]”.
Part of the fixation will be playing a cleaner game than they did at the start of this trip on Friday, when they lost 113-98 in Philadelphia.
After losing five of six, they rose from 17th place to defeat the Charlotte Hornets.
But facing a 76ers team that was playing without superstars Joel Embiid and Paul George, the Nets failed to build on that momentum.
The Nets committed 19 giveaways in Philadelphia, going 28-12 off turnovers — including a 6-0 run in a fourth-quarter collapse.
“Too many turnovers…unforced turnovers,” Thomas said. “We need to play cleaner and get ready for Sacramento.”
Thomas himself struggled, shooting just 6 of 15 from the floor, making several ill-advised shots and committing seven ugly turnovers himself. The other half of the backcourt, Dennis Schroder, also had seven.
“Obviously the number is not good,” Fernandez said. “His seven assists is a number I like a lot, but not seven. So maybe he had four too many. Seven.” [assists] And three [turnovers] It will be great or it will be good.
“And again, you see CT and Dennis with 13 [turnovers] Taken together, it's not a good sign. And again, credit to [the Sixers] — because that's what they do — but when we prepare for matches, we tell the players what they will encounter and see. We didn't do very well.”
