Nets bottle up Kings as defense comes up big again

Maybe the Nets are starting to figure out this defense thing.

They strung together consecutive wins for just the second time this season, grinding out a 116-97 victory over the Kings before 15,619 at Barclays Center.

Though Sacramento was missing De’Aaron Fox, Marvin Bagley III and Bogdan Bogdanovic, the Nets weren’t going to shed any tears or show any sympathy. They need every win they can get, and now have three in their past four games — all played without injured star Kyrie Irving.

“We defended, really defended got stops and got out in transition,” Garrett Temple said in an on-court postgame interview. “We put together four quarters. We have to do that [Sunday] in New York [against the Knicks].”

Irving has joined Kevin Durant and Caris LeVert on the sidelines, but the Nets have rediscovered their DNA as a gritty bunch. Or more to the point, this group has figured out that’s the only way they’ll win.

“[It’s] just understanding our system and the grit and toughness, and — especially when you’re not making shots — the ability to still be resilient enough to run back and get stops,” coach Kenny Atkinson said.

The Nets improved to 7-8, while the Kings (6-8) never led.

Spencer Dinwiddie led the way with a game-high 23 points and seven assists. Joe Harris was red-hot with 22 points and Temple added a season-high 18. But the star was the team defense.

The Nets bludgeoned Sacramento 48-to-33 on the boards, with center Jarrett Allen (11 points, nine rebounds) just missing another double-double. And the difference may well have been on the perimeter, with the Nets holding the Kings to just 4-of-26 from 3-point range, while Harris finally heeded Atkinson’s pleas to shoot more.

“Yeah to be honest it’s kind of been a redundant thing for like my entire basketball life is to shoot more. So it’s like not really anything different now from Kenny than it has been, like, ever,” Harris said. “I just try to play within myself, play within the game, do what I think is best for the team to have success.

“Sometimes it is taking contested shots, but more often than not it’s just trying to get the best possession that you can. And sometimes in my opinion a bad shot is just as bad as a turnover, or a missed possession; so it’s about valuing the possession, trying to get the most out of it, and doing what you can to get better.”

Harris finished 5-of-7 from 3-point range. And it was his long-range daggers that sparked the 15-6 run that blew the game open early in the second quarter.

The Nets were clinging to a tenuous 28-25 edge after a basket by Harrison Barnes, who led the Kings with 18 points, but Harris drilled four 3-pointers in a 2:35 span, his last padding Brooklyn’s cushion to 43-31 and sending Sacramento into a timeout. But the damage was done, and the Kings couldn’t undo it.

Back-to-back-3-pointers from Taurean Prince and Temple turned a nine-point lead into a 66-51 cushion. And the Nets never lost momentum the rest of the way.

A Theo Pinson jumper pushed the Nets’ lead to 96-75 with 9:49 to play, and they led by as much as 22.

It marked another strong outing from Allen, who had been challenged by Atkinson to show more consistency. He started despite being listed as probable with a sprained right ankle, and gave the Nets great rim protection and another solid effort on the glass.

“In the beginning of the season it was inconsistency,” Atkinson admitted. “I was kind of on him, quite honestly. [But] you say ‘hey, you’re not consistent enough.’ He responds, ‘OK, I’ll become more consistent coach,’ and he becomes more consistent. It’s amazing. Just give him a task and he does it.”

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