CASPER
New member
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Tyreke Evans scored 20 points and the Sacramento Kings snapped a six-game losing streak by beating the New Jersey Nets 86-81 on Friday night.
Struggling in the early season, the youthful Kings also ended a five-game skid at home, avoiding their first 0-6 stretch at Arco Arena since an eight-game slide from Nov. 11 to Dec. 6, 2008.
Kris Humphries had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Anthony Morrow scored 17 points and Travis Outlaw 13 for the Nets. New Jersey lost its second straight and has dropped eight of 10 since starting the season 2-0 for the first time tine in eight seasons.
Carl Landry scored 15 points, Beno Udrih had 12 and Luther Head added 10 for Sacramento. DeMarcus Cousins had eight points and 10 rebounds for the Kings, who lost at New Jersey the second game of the season.
Landry broke a tie with a bucket in the lane and Donte Greene followed with a steal and dribbled the length of the court for a dunk, bringing the crowd to its feet for one of the few times and giving the Kings an 80-76 lead with 3:16 left.
Outlaw made a jumper following a timeout to cut the Kings' lead to 83-81 with 27 seconds remaining. But with the shot clock running down, Udrih made a 3-pointer to make it 86-81 with 3.4 seconds left.
Evans began the game shooting 1 of 8, then got going late in the first half, surprisingly making shots from the perimeter, where he has struggled throughout his brief NBA career.
Evans helped put the Kings on top 64-63 heading into the fourth quarter. Last year's Rookie of the Year scored nine points in the third, when Sacramento outscored the Nets 21-17.
Morrow and Humphries both had 12 points in the opening half to put the Nets in front 46-43. New Jersey used a 19-4 run in the second quarter to erase an eight-point deficit. Landry had 10 points for the Kings.
Notes: Greene, who played just four minutes in a recent four-game stretch, got his first start of the season. It was the fifth different starting lineup for the Kings. In the battle of two highly touted rookie post players, Cousins drew an offensive foul late in the first quarter against Derrick Favors. Neither player was a factor. Favors scored three points. ... Nets reserve Quinton Ross suffered a calf strain in the first half and didn't return. ... Devin Harris missed seven of eight shots before hitting a jumper midway through the third quarter, then was promptly taken out of the game.
