The Sacramento Kings beat the Brooklyn Nets 112-101 at Golden 1 Center on Wednesday, ending their seven-game losing streak.

The Kings had seven players reach double-digit points, while Richaun Homes had nine points and nine rebounds. Tyrese Haliburton scored a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds plus four steals. Chimezie Metu got 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Despite the above joint efforts of the team, the Kings trailed for three quarters until they launched a rally in Q4 29-15. "It felt like we were on a string as a unit," Haliburton said after scoring seven points and two assists in the last quarter. "We were together communicating, and that helped us a lot. That's why good things happened for us."

"I just thought it was a really good defensive effort," Kings interim coach Alvin Gentry said. "When you can hold that team to (101) points … I really liked the activity in the fourth quarter on the defensive end."

Whatever Gentry said or did in the locker room during the halftime break apparently worked because the Kings allowed only 39 points in the second half. His work was approved by the opponents as well. Kyrie Irving said the Kings were playing "playoff-adjustment basketball."

However, Kendrick Perkins on ESPN did not seem to agree with Irving. "Kings ain't been to the playoffs is d*** near 20 years! How the hell they know anything about Playoff adjustments?! Don't mind me tho and Carry on…" Posted Perkins on Twitter.

Actually, it has been 16 years since the Kings reached the playoffs the last time, but it's still the longest postseason drought in NBA history. Moreover, playoff adjustments or not, the team's defense had not much to do with Irving's underperformance of going 5-15 in field goals (FGs) to get only 14 points and one assist.

Irving's performance was not even the worst of the Nets. James Harden, who is a three-time NBA scoring champion, was 2-11 in FGs and missed all five 3-point attempts to score only four points, seven rebounds, 12 assists and six turnovers. The only two shots he made both happened in the paint, but Harden failed to earn even one free throw.

Gentry said he has never seen Harden get no more than four points playing 37 minutes on the floor. The truth is, no one ever has because it's the lowest score by Harden in all of the games he has played at least 30 minutes in. The last time he had a similarly cold night took place against the Memphis Grizzlies in 2014 when he was still playing for the Houston Rockets.

Nets head coach Steve Nash said Harden looked "tired" on Wednesday night. Harden said: "There's no concern. We don't have our entire team and this is happening to us. We're just trying to figure out what works best, what guys fit, what guys don't. Hopefully, after the break we can get our whole roster and start making strides in the right direction."

Unfortunately, there should be some concerns because this was the Nets' sixth loss in a row, and it's given by the Kings, which were only 18-34 before Wednesday's game and still rank in the 13th place in the Western Conference, only above the two tanking teams Oklahoma City and Rockets.

The Nets have lost seven of their nine games since Kevin Durant suffered MCL sprain in mid-January. Even without the "Slim Reaper," they still have nine-time NBA All-Star Harden, who was named the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2018, and six-time All-Star Irving, who won the NBA Championship in 2016. The two averaged 25 (Harden) and 22.9 (Irving) points per game in their career. It's not too much to ask them to do better than watching their team rank sixth in the Eastern Conference, only 1.5 games from the seventh-ranking Charlotte Hornets, which will have to compete in the play-in tournament for playoff qualification.

Considering that the Nets will face multiple top-seeded teams, including the Milwaukee Bucks, Utah Jazz and Miami Heat, more than once in the rest of the season, the chance of the Big Three appearing in the play-in tournament is not zero.

Other games on Wednesday (away teams come first):

Orlando Magic 119-118 Indiana Pacers

Washington Wizards 106-103 Philadelphia 76ers

Memphis Grizzlies 120-108 New York Knicks

Cleveland Cavaliers 104-115 Houston Rockets

Oklahoma City Thunder 120-114 Dallas Mavericks

Denver Nuggets 104-108 Utah Jazz

Portland Trail Blazers 94-99 Los Angeles Lakers