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Brooklyn Nets (2-4) @ Sacramento Kings (1-5)

Sleep Train Arena 10:00

TV: YES – RADIO: WFAN 660 AM/101.9 FM[/box]

[quote_simple]NETS STARTERS

The starting lineup will be Deron Williams playing alongside Joe Johnson in the backcourt with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and the man in the middle Brook Lopez up front.

The Nets have not won a road game this year and there is no better place to start than in Sacramento with a team that is currently in disarray.

The leaders on this Brooklyn team will not allow this early season struggle to hinder them going forward so expect a much different team to come out on this trip and hopefully it translates to wins.

[box]”We’re not panicking. We know it’s going to come together,” Williams said. “We’re confident that we can overcome these little struggles and we’re going to stay together no matter what’s happening on the outside.”[/box]

[box]Game Notes:

The Nets were 5-5 against the Pacific Division last season, including victories over all three teams on this trip (two wins over Phoenix and victories over Sacramento and the LAC)

Shaun Livingston enters Wednesday night’s game ranked second in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio. Livingston has yet to turn the ball over more than once in a game through Brooklyn’s first six games

The Nets are 2-0 this season in games in which they’ve outscored their opponent in the third quarter, but 0-4 in games in which they’ve been outscored in the third quarter.

[quote_simple]WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Clean slate

The Nets will hope that a three-game trip to the West Coast helps them bond and come out of their early season funk.

The Nets are way too deep of a team to continue to struggle and currently have twelve players averaging at least 11 minutes per game with one lone player, Lopez, averaging more than 30 minutes per game.

Cohesiveness as a team will happen over time so six games is not a large enough sample to start panicking.

KINGS STARTERS

The Kings starting lineup will be Greivis Vasquez and Marcus Thorton in the backcourt with John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins playing in the frontcourt.

This is the 2nd game of a 5-game homestand which is the longest homestand of the season.  The Nets swept last season’s series against the Kings and have won the last three matchups overall.

The Kings starting lineup may change and the rotation will surely change starting tonight as the head coach has suggested.  Malone is not happy with his teams effort and passion for the game thru the first six games.

[box]”I’m embarrassed. Every night it’s the same thing,” Malone said. “We finally get a night where we defend at a decent level, but we can’t rebound. We got outworked on the glass. I think we’ve got a lot of guys who just care about themselves on this team. Changes will be made before we play on Wednesday.”
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[box]INJURY REPORT

NETS

Andrei Kirilenko – OUT (back spasms)

KINGS

Carl Landry – OUT (tear, left hip flexor muscle)

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