It was game two between the Brooklyn Nets and the Sacramento Kings in China, this time in Beijing, and while game one just barely went the way of the Nets, this morning's game forced the Nets to put in a little extra work as well. While the NBA took four minutes from this Sunday's game against the Celtics, they gave back an extra five minutes when this one went to overtime.
It all evens out in the end, right, Nets fans?
Thanks to a strong finish by Mason Plumlee, Sergey Karasev, and the Nets deep bench, the Nets were able to win this one in overtime, 129-117, finishing their trip to China with a 2-0 record and now 3-0 in preseason overall. Plumlee finished the game with 18 points and four rebounds. Karasev had nine points.
With no DeMarcus Cousins for the Kings, Sacramento leaned heavily on its guard and wing play, as Rudy Gay scored 21 points, while Ben McLemore chipped in with 22 points of his own.
The Nets were without Kevin Garnett, while Mirza Teletovic stepped in and started at power forward. He came up big for the Nets, scoring a team-high 22 points and hitting 6-of-9 threes. In the preseason, Teletovic is averaging 15 points and shooting
Brooklyn got out to a nice start, behind six from Teletovic, seven from Bojan Bogdanovic and 14 from Brook Lopez, and carried a 32-21 lead into the second quarter. Lopez finished with 16 points overall and shooting 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from behind the arc.
Again, however, the Kings turned it up in the second quarter and began to push the ball, as well as step out and shoot threes. The Nets perimeter defense was not, well, very good in this one. They allowed far too many open looks. The Kings outscored the Nets 36-16 in the second and carried a 57-48 lead into halftime.
Darren Collison scored 16 points in the first half. Joe Johnson went 0-for-1 from the floor, with five assists, in 12 first-half minutes.
In the second half we saw a completely different Nets team, one that got more active and looked like it came to play. Deron Williams, for the first time in preseason, decided it was time to be dominant, and the Nets got contributions from the bench, including Plumlee and Alan Anderson, and slowly were able to chip away at the Kings lead. At the end of regulation, Willie Reed dropped a pass that would have led to an open dunk with under a second to play. That sent the game into overtime. Yes, even Willie Reed played.
The offense looked great, scoring 68 points in the second half, and forcing the game into overtime, after they tied it up at 112-112.
After looking a little out of it in the first half, Plumlee turned into a beast in overtime. He worked both ends of the floor and gave the Nets the extra push to get them the 129-117 victory.
Lionel Hollins, back after being "under the weather" for two days, had particular praise for WIlliams and Bogdanovic.
"I think Deron Williams has been very consistent. I think his heath is back and he’s playing with confidence," Hollins told reporters after the game. "I think Bojan has surprised us with his steady play, his consistent play."
"I definitely hit some shots," said Williams. "I made a conscious effort to be more aggressive to start the quarter. We were down a bit, we needed to pick it up and have a little bit more energy on both ends of the floor, and so I just tried to be aggressive."
Said Rudy Gay, "The atmosphere felt like an away game. Fans over here absolutely love Kevin Garnett, they go crazy for him. But they also pretty much cheer everyone, from the starters to the last players on the bench. They definitely know the game and appreciate us being over here. You can't walk the streets without causing a frenzy."
Indeed at one point, fans loudly implored Hollins to put KG in the game, chanting Garnett's name. Hollins said he wanted a chance to look at younger players.
Two games in China, two wins for the Nets. Not a bad trip overall. Next up is the 44-minute game against the Boston Celtics on Sunday.
For more on the Kings, see: Sactown Royalty
- Kings at Nets - October 15, 2014 - Boxscore - NBA.com
- China Preseason Game Thread: Brooklyn Nets vs. Sacramento Kings, 7:30 AM EST - NetsDaily
- Kings vs. Nets: Highlights (Video) - NBA.com
- Going Up In Beijing (Video) - NBA.com
- Shifty Play (Video) - NBA.com
- Pocket Pass (Video) - NBA.com
- Bogdanovic In The Paint (Video) - NBA.com
- Postgame: Deron Williams (Video) - NBA.com
- Postgame: Deron Williams (Video) - NBA.com
- Watch Deron Williams Use Four Straight Crossovers To Beat Ramon Sessions (Video) - DIME
- Mirza Teletovic Burying Six Threes Vs. The Kings (Video) - Devin Kharpertian - The Brooklyn Game
- Teletovic leads Nets to 129-117 OT win over Kings - AP
- Slideshow: Nets vs Kings in Beijing - NBA.com
- Beijing brings out D-Will of old - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
- Notes: Bogdanovic surprising Nets; Hollins pleased with ball movement - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
- Nets encouraged by preseason play of Deron Williams, Brook Lopez - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News
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Preseason exudes 2014-15 potential - Andy Vasquez - The Record
- Brook Lopez won’t be fully back until he fixes this kink - Tim Bontemps - New York Post
- Hollins: Second unit to step up - Brian Erni - SNY Nets
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5 Takeaways From Brooklyn Nets’ Trip To China - Steve Lichtenstein - WFAN
- Nets End China Trip Undefeated With OT Victory - Devin Kharpertian - The Brooklyn Game
- Nets Show off Euro Ball in Beijing, Beat Kings in OT - Lenn Robbins - Brooklyn Nets
- Kings wrap up trip to China with overtime loss to Brooklyn Nets - Stuart Leavenworth - Sacramento Bee
- Kings 117, Nets 129: Extra time not enough to beat Brooklyn in Beijing - Aykis16 - Sactown Royalty