SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Nets — who are rebuilding and stuck squarely in the lottery slot — shouldn't have to ring any alarm bells.
However, Friday's loss to the struggling Sixers should serve as a reference just in case.
“Yeah, it's never easy,” admitted winger Cam Johnson, hinting at the rest of this four-game road trip. “But it doesn’t have to be a wake-up call.
“That's the NBA. We know who we're going to play. We know what Sacramento brings. We know what Golden State brings. We know what Phoenix brings. And it's really good, high-level players. Yes, that's a bit of a wake-up call. But we don't know what we've gotten ourselves into. I understand.”
Sunday wasn't just a return to Sacramento for head coach Jordi Fernandez and assistants Dutch Gately and Davidus Dalkeith, all former Kings staffers.
It will be the beginning of a tough Western Conference challenge for the Nets. Or at least try to survive.
“Yeah, this is a good test for us. We have some good teams coming out West so we can really gauge ourselves and see where we are,” Cam Thomas said. said. “We want to play our best and I'm sure we'll be ready for that.”
Measuring is not easy.
After dealing with star guard De'Aaron Fox (28.8 points per game) and center Domantas Sabonis (20.4 points, 12.7 rebounds, 6.4 assists), the Nets will look to end a tough streak against Golden State the next night. .
The Warriors entered the weekend with a 12-3 lead in the Western Conference led by superstar Stephen Curry (22.7 points per game). They then finish their trip in Phoenix against old friend Kevin Durant.
The former MVP was out, and the Suns lost five straight. However, he is 8-1 against Durant and he is scheduled to return on Tuesday. So, naturally, he could be a good fit to play against his former Nets team.
It's a really tough test.
“Yeah, we have a good backcourt and a good team coming in,” center Nick Claxton said. “So we know we have to be better. And if we don't lock in, we're going to be beaten by more than we've been beaten. [Friday]”
The only way to ensure they advance is to play a cleaner game than they did in Friday's 113-98 loss to Philadelphia.
After dropping five of six games, they came back from 17 games down to defeat the Charlotte Hornets.
But the Nets were unable to build any momentum against a depleted 76ers team that was playing without All-Stars Joel Embiid and Paul George.
The Nets committed 19 giveaways in Philadelphia and were outscored 28-12 in turnovers, including a 6-0 fourth-quarter collapse.
“Too many turnovers…unforced turnovers,” Thomas said. “We need to play cleaner and be ready for Sacramento.”
Thomas himself struggled, shooting just 6-of-15 from the floor, forcing several reckless shots and committing an unsightly seven turnovers all by himself. The other half of the backcourt, Dennis Schroder, hit seven as well.
“Obviously, these numbers are not good,” Fernandez said. “His seven assists is a number I really like, but his seven turnovers are not. So maybe he had four too many. Seven. [assists] and three [turnovers] It would be great, or it would be better.
“And we also see CT and Dennis turning 13. [turnovers] Taken together, that's not a good sign. I'll say it again, [the Sixers] — because that's their job — but when we prepare for a game, we tell our players what they're going to face and what they're going to see. We didn't perform very well. ”
