Playing the second game of a back-to-back after a double overtime contest in Washington on Friday night, you could have expected the Nets to come out looking like a tired bunch back home in Brooklyn against the Kings on Saturday night.
Instead, they came out playing with a purpose, playing with an extra bounce in their step while jumping out to a big early lead and cruising to a comfortable 113-93 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 17,732 inside Barclays Center.
The game couldn’t have gone much better than it did from practically every perspective for the Nets (19-15), who improved to 5-1 under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo. A night after several Nets logged heavy minutes, including well over 40 for Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez, Carlesimo went to his bench early and often, and was rewarded with contributions from nearly every player on the roster.
Thanks to huge contributions from MarShon Brooks (15 points and three assists), Andray Blatche (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Mirza Teletovic (14 points, five rebounds and two assists), the Nets only had one player, Reggie Evans, go over 30 minutes while having six players finish in double-figures points and eight finish with at least seven points.
The Nets also had terrific ball movement, with many possessions seeing all five Nets on the floor touch the ball, and they finished the game with 26 assists on 44 made baskets.
Meanwhile, they also played well defensively, holding the Kings (13-21) to under 40 percent shooting from the field and under 30 percent from 3-point range, with only DeMarcus Cousins (28 points and 11 rebounds) doing any serious damange.
It was clear from the opening tip that the Nets, who had looked sluggish throughout much of Friday night’s struggle in Washington, had a much different mentality against the Kings. After barely leading against the Wizards, the Nets got off to a hot start thanks to balanced scoring from everyone in the starting lineup.
The starting five of Williams, Johnson, Wallace, Evans and Lopez all got into the act in the first, finishing the quarter a combined 12-for-18 and score 32 points in the quarter as the Nets jumped out to a 36-31 lead.
But the game changed in the second quarter with the introduction of the bench, and in particular Brooks and Teletovic.
Brooks finished the quarter with eight points, while Teletovic poured in nine to help spur a 17-4 run to begin the quarter and push the Nets’ lead into double-digits at 51-35, and where it would remain for the rest of the game.
It stayed that way, in part, because the Nets did something they’ve so rarely done this season – close out a half well. After the bench helped extend the lead, Carlesimo opted to bring the starters back with about three minutes to go and the Nets leading 55-43.
From there, the starters closed the half with a 10-4 run to push the Nets lead to 65-47 heading into halftime.
The Nets were even able to overcome their typical third quarter malaise, one that saw them go 7-for-23 in the quarter, including 2-for-9 from 3-point range after taking just seven 3-pointers in the entire first half.
That was, in large part, because the Kings were unable to do much better, going 9-for-20 from the field and 1-for-5 from 3-point range, before both teams emptied the bench in the fourth quarter after the Nets officially put the game out of reach.
tbontemps@nypost.com