GOING STRONG: Andray Blatche drives to the basket during the Nets’ 99-90 victory over the Kings. (NBAE/Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO — On a night when the Nets’ stars couldn’t buy a bucket, it was their bench that carried them home.
Reserves Andray Blatche, MarShon Brooks and C.J. Watson combined to score 49 points off the bench, lifting the Nets to a 99-90 victory over the Kings last night.
“That’s what makes this team special,” Joe Johnson said. “You’ve got guys like myself, Deron [Williams], Brook [Lopez], we can have great games, but we have guys on the bench who’ve started and played big minutes in this league and are good players in this league, so they’re able to be productive for us and even win a game for us.”
On a night when Williams, Johnson and Lopez combined to go 10-for-36 from the field, the bench played a large role in the Nets (6-2) winning this one, giving the team its first five-game winning streak since March 2011.
No one may have played a bigger role than Blatche, who came off the bench on fire last night. The Nets’ backup center quickly converted three layups around the rim after checking in and didn’t stop there. He had little trouble getting to the basket all night long, finished the first half 9-for-9 with 18 points after draining a pair of long jumpers from the left side of the court and wound up with 22 points on 11-for-12 shooting to help open up a 54-42 halftime lead.
“He’s trying to do everything I ask him to do,” coach Avery Johnson said of Blatche. “I’m pretty hard on him … but I think he’s really taken to it, and the days when I’m not [hard on him], he’s wondering what’s wrong.
“We’re just trying to keep him focused. He was taking and making his shots, and he was finding the right spots and it was really nice to see.”
After a quiet first half, Brooks was equally impressive down the stretch for the Nets, helping to close out the pesky Kings (2-8), who entered the game with a four-game losing streak but managed to hang around thanks to a 42-33 advantage on the glass and a 52-40 advantage in points in the paint, even closing to within two points early in the fourth quarter.
But upon checking in early in the fourth, Brooks took over, going 4-for-5 from the field, scoring nine points and icing the game with a 3-pointer off a pass from Williams with 50 seconds to go to ice the win.
“Today was my day,” said Brooks, who finished with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting. “[Coach] called me in the fourth quarter. … I just tried to help and take open shots.
“Deron, Joe and Brook draw so much attention so I’ve been getting a lot of easy shots and I was able to make them.”
Now the Nets head to Los Angeles, where they will get a shot at the Lakers tomorrow night in what may be the first game Mike D’Antoni coaches, and their first look at Dwight Howard since the season-long drama surrounding his future ended with him not going to Brooklyn, as the Nets once hoped.
“We just want to keep our momentum going,” said Gerald Wallace, who returned to the lineup after missing six games with sprained left ankle. “The main thing is establishing ourselves on the road. We’ve got to play well on the road, and the Lakers are one of the top contending teams, so if we want to be mentioned in the same sentence as them, this is a game we’ve got to compete and be comfortable in.”