Brooklyn @ Sacramento preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 20, 2017 ) Sacramento 104, Brooklyn 99

The race to the bottom in the NBA includes a list of eight teams -- four from each conference -- and the Sacramento Kings and Brooklyn Nets are both part of the pack. One team will earn a rare win when the Kings host the Nets on Thursday.

While seven of the eight teams appear to be tanking in an effort to improve their chance at a great draft position, Brooklyn doesn't control its first-round pick this season and is still trying to win. "I feel with this group here being healthy now, we're going to keep getting better," Nets coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters after a 129-123 loss at Cleveland on Tuesday. "We want to finish the rest of this season on an upswing. Now, we've got a tough West Coast trip coming up, but I do feel good about the direction we're going right now." The Kings are giving the rest of their season over to development and are losers of five in a row and nine of their last 11. Sacramento dropped a 116-99 decision at Portland on Tuesday but got solid performances out of young players De'Aaron Fox and Willie Cauley-Stein.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), NBCS California (Sacramento)

ABOUT THE NETS (20-42): Brooklyn point guard D'Angelo Russell made his way back slowly from a knee injury that cost him two months, and he only recently returned to the starting lineup. Russell enjoyed his best game since rejoining the first unit on Tuesday, when he collected 25 points, six assists and five rebounds while going 9-of-18 from the floor. "It was only a matter of time," Rondae Hollis-Jefferson told Newsday. "That's D'Angelo's game. He can score, he can pass, make plays. There ain't much he can't do. It just feels good to have him back."

ABOUT THE KINGS (18-43): Fox was Sacramento's first-round pick last June and became the undisputed starter at point guard when George Hill was sent to Cleveland at the trade deadline. Fox is starting to grow in the role and contributed 13 points, eight assists and three steals in Tuesday's loss to the Trail Blazers. Cauley-Stein is still trying to establish himself in his third season and posted double-doubles in two of the last three games, including an 18-point, 15-rebound effort against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Kings PF Skal Labissiere followed up 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting on Monday with six points on 1-of-5 on Tuesday.

2. Nets SF Dante Cunningham is 7-of-11 from 3-point range over the last three games.

3. Sacramento earned a 104-99 win at Brooklyn on Dec. 20.

PREDICTION: Nets 113, Kings 101