Kings takeaways: What we learned in sloppy 116-97 loss vs. Nets

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BOX SCORE

Slow to rotate. Slow to loose balls. Slow to score.

The short-handed Sacramento Kings didn’t quite look like themselves Friday night in Brooklyn, and the Nets made them pay. 

Missing major pieces all over the floor due to injury, the Kings needed a perfect game if they hoped to come away with a road win. They didn’t get it and fell to the Nets by a final of 116-97. 

Spencer Dinwiddie ran circles around Sacramento’s guards, Joe Harris bombed from the outside and Jarrett Allen caused problems in the pick-and-roll to lead Brooklyn. 

The Kings were competitive through 24 minutes, but then it got ugly at Barclays Center.

Here are three takeaways as the Kings couldn’t keep up with the Nets and fell to 6-8 on the season.  

Who has Harris?

The Kings were asking themselves that question the entire first half as Harris torched them from the perimeter. One of the better shooters in the NBA, Harris hit the Kings for five 3-pointers in the first half, scoring 17 points before the intermission. 

Harris is a phenomenal shooter, but he came into the night averaging just 12.8 points in 32.4 minutes per game. The Kings sagged off of him and once he got hot, there was no cooling him off.

Sacramento did a better job of defending him in second half, but Harris still managed to his season-high of 22 points.

Boxed Out

There is nothing more demoralizing than playing solid defense for 20 seconds and then giving up an offensive rebound and a quick bucket. That is what happened to the Kings Friday night in Brooklyn.

The Nets dominated the Kings for a 48-33 advantage on the glass, including an 13-7 lead on the offensive end.

Sacramento can’t expect to win on the road if they won’t get their hands dirty and hit the boards.

Depleted

Head coach Luke Walton walked into the game without three of his primary scorers and his team struggled to keep up. De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley have both missed major time, but playing without the services of super-sub Bogdan Bogdanovic was too much to overcome.

[RELATED: How Kings' Serbian connections help make Bogi feel at home]

After dropping a career-best 31 points on the Suns Tuesday evening, Bogdanovic missed the final 1:22 of the fourth with some tightness in his left hamstring. He tried to give it a go in warm-ups but wasn’t able to get on the court against the Nets. 

In addition to Fox, Bagley and Bogdanovic, Trevor Ariza missed the game as well. The veteran forward is recovering from a sore right groin, but he is currently away from the team tending to a personal matter. 

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