Sacramento also witnessed strong bench production in defeating a team that many believe will now land the top pick of the NBA Draft.
The race to potentially land the top pick in the 2026 NBA Draft got rearranged at the Golden I center. Now the Brooklyn Nets are increasing their chances to earn No. 1, with the Sacramento Kings winning 126-122 on Sunday at home.
Sacramento for the longest time was the heavy favorite to claim the top pick of June's draft. The Kings are also called to look into Arizona's Koa Peat as well along with the likes of AJ Dybantsa of BYU, Darryn Peterson of Kansas and Kingston Flemings of Houston.
But the Kings own a better record now than the Nets with a 19-53 mark. And Malik Monk had a lot to do with the Nets now increasing their chances of receiving the higher draft pick.
Brooklyn struggled to contain Monk in the end, as he went on a late scoring rampage to deliver as astonishing 32 points off the bench. He even delivered 10 of his 32 during the final five minutes of the evening.
Brooklyn is already rolling without leading scorer Michael Porter Jr. with an injured ankle. Another star rookie Egor Demin has a foot ailment which forced Brooklyn to shut him down for the rest of the season. Day'Ron Sharpe is one more season-ending injury too for Brooklyn.
The Nets still hung tight with the Kings. Until Nolan Traore stepped out of bounds that created the turnover during Brooklyn's final possession. That play even went under review and became upheld.
Brooklyn briefly got up 34-30 in the first quarter and then outscored the Kings 28-27 in the second. Sacramento, however, delivered a 28-20 advantage in the third quarter.
Maxime Raynaud dueled with Saraf and ended his night scoring 22 points for the Kings' starters. Drew Carter added 16 points off the bench for Sacramento. Carter hit the final free throws to seal the Sacramento victory and get the beam to light up. Precious Achiuwa delivered 14 points for the Kings. Brooklyn held DeMar DeRozan to just 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting.
Nique Clifford did add a brief scare for the Kings, though, as he limped off the arena with a left ankle injury and never returned. He settled for seven points in 27 minutes.
Brooklyn's Ben Saraf led his team with 22 points, which he hit during 29 minutes off the bench. Malachi Smith added 18 points in reserve duty. Tyson Etienne chipped in 14 as a bench player too.
With the win, Brooklyn drops to 17-54 overall and again, owns a worse record than the Kings.
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