Both teams were tanking, but Sunday at Golden 1 Center still turned into a night where young and fringe rotation players on each side were asked to step up.

The Sacramento Kings entered the day in fourth place in the draft lottery standings, a half-game behind the Nets for third. Brooklyn arrived on a six-game losing streak, playing without Michael Porter Jr., Nic Claxton, Noah Clowney, Day’Ron Sharpe and Egor Dëmin. Sacramento came in on a two-game skid and was missing Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, Russell Westbrook and others.

Something had to give, and by the end, it was the Nets who walked out with the same result they’ve been living in.

Brooklyn fell to the Kings 126-122, dropped its seventh straight and sank to 17-54. The Nets shot 52.3%, committed just seven turnovers and forced 17, but Sacramento had more offensive firepower and executed better late.

If Brooklyn’s season has been about finding small wins inside messy nights, the first half looked like one of them. The Nets outscored Sacramento 62-57 on 54.3% shooting, with contributions coming from basically every healthy body Jordi Fernández could throw on the floor. Seven Nets scored at least six points in the half. Rookies Danny Wolf, Drake Powell, Nolan Traoré and Ben Saraf all chipped in, and Saraf led Brooklyn at the break with 10 points. Malachi Smith, on a 10-day, gave the Nets eight points in his first 10 minutes off the bench. Two-way guard Tyson Etienne added six more.

Brooklyn was even winning the possession game early, despite giving up 12 second-chance points. The Nets controlled the paint, knocked down seven 3-pointers and took elite care of the ball, committing just one turnover while handing out 18 assists in the first half. They also forced seven giveaways, and that helped offset the fact Sacramento’s undermanned group still got buckets. Maxime Raynaud, Precious Achiuwa and Malik Monk combined for 43 first-half points.

The first half came with a cost, though, and it was the most important piece of the day for Brooklyn. With 7:08 left in the second quarter, Wolf converted a contested layup, turned his left ankle, and had to be helped off the court by trainers. He was ruled out the rest of the game, finishing with nine points and four rebounds in 12 minutes.

The Nets didn’t stop competing after Wolf went down, but the game changed. In the third quarter, Brooklyn’s effort held while its execution slipped. The Nets committed five turnovers in the period, and the offense went cold outside of Ziaire Williams, who scored nine points and lived at the free throw line. Everyone else besides Williams shot a combined 4 for 12 as Brooklyn shot 37.5% in the quarter, got outscored 28-20, and trailed 85-82 entering the fourth, with Williams sitting on 18 points.

Neither team created real separation until the 5:17 mark, when Monk finished an acrobatic layup over E.J. Liddell through contact, completed the three-point play and put Sacramento up six. On the next sequence, after Traoré misfired, Devin Carter hit a six-footer to cap a 7-0 run.

Brooklyn still had a counter. The Nets forced three straight turnovers and turned them into points, with a Smith bucket and two Saraf finishes. The prettiest one came in transition, a behind-the-back pass from Smith to Saraf that cut it to two with 3:05 left.

But Monk didn’t let the door stay open. In a 30-second span, he hit two free throws after being fouled by Liddell and then drilled his seventh 3-pointer of the afternoon to stretch it back to seven. The Nets kept chipping. Smith knocked down a 3 with 45.8 seconds left to make it a three-point game, and Brooklyn got it down to one after Traoré raced in for a layup and Achiuwa was whistled for goaltending. Monk answered again, hitting two more free throws on a perfect 9 for 9 day at the line, and Sacramento never let Brooklyn get a clean look in the final seconds to tie it.

Monk led the Kings with 32 points, two rebounds and six assists. Saraf finished with a career-high 22 points on 10-for-19 shooting in 29 minutes with three rebounds and five assists. Smith and Williams scored 18 apiece.

The Nets continue their West Coast trip Monday against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center.

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