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Monday, Dec. 6 7:30pm ET
Nets win for just 3rd time this year | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Playing lousy against one of the NBA's lowliest teams, the Sacramento Kings blew a chance to head home with the league's best record. In a low-quality, low-energy conclusion to their second-longest road trip of the season, the Kings couldn't contend with Stephon Marbury or Keith Van Horn on Monday night in a 109-95 loss to the New Jersey Nets.
Marbury scored 26 points and handed out 14 assists, dominating his matchup with Jason Williams, and Van Horn scored 27 as the Nets won for the just third time this season. "I'm not jumping up and down, but it feels good -- real good," Marbury said. "This is how I thought we would play coming out of training camp." New Jersey took control with a 30-15 edge in the third quarter against the weary Kings, who were playing their fifth straight road game in a swing up the East Coast and were unable to mount any kind of a serious challenge in the final quarter. It was just the fourth loss of the season for Sacramento, which began the night in a virtual tie with Portland for the best record in the NBA. "We would have liked to get this game to go home 3-2 (on the road trip), but we're still a team that's learning and maybe this will help us out in the long run," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "When we start struggling, we get really impatient and don't play well together. Lucious Harris added 14 points for the Nets, and Jamie Feick grabbed 16 rebounds. Marbury and Kendall Gill each had four steals. Chris Webber had 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Kings, and Vlade Divac added 21 points. Williams had only five points and seven assists with four turnovers, and Marbury made him look lead-footed on more than one occasion. New Jersey, which fell behind 10-0 in the first few minutes, took the lead for good with 7:21 left in the third on a three-point play by Van Horn that made it 61-60. That was when Marbury, who had 12 points and six assists in the first half, really started going to work on Williams. After beating his defender and drawing a double-team, Marbury fed Kerry Kittles for a jumper that completed a 9-0 run and gave New Jersey a 65-60 lead. Moments later, Marbury blew past Williams at the foul line like he was standing still and made a twisting layup over Divac to make it 74-67. Williams then rushed a 3-pointer and missed, and Marbury fed Harris for the first of consecutive 3-pointers that gave the Nets an 80-67 advantage. "It's easy when you make shots, communicate on defense, get loose balls and play hard," Marbury said. The Nets were still ahead by 15 with 7 minutes left when Adelman put three of his starters back in for one final push, but the Kings had nothing left. "When you want to turn the heat on, it doesn't always go your way," Divac said. "We should have gone home with two more wins, but we beat ourselves in Atlanta and the same thing happened here. We still have confidence in ourselves."
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Sacramento Clubhouse New Jersey Clubhouse RECAPS Denver 94 Philadelphia 77
New Jersey 109
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