Brooklyn Nets' James Harden urges team to 'push forward' after sixth straight loss

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After watching his team drop its sixth straight game, a lethargic 112-101 loss to the Sacramento Kings, Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden sat at a small podium inside Golden 1 Center with a look of frustration.

When asked whether his struggling group needed to have a players only meeting after a week and a half of poor play, Harden was quick with his answer.

«I think we've done too much talking,» Harden said after scoring just four points and 2-for-11 shooting from the field. «It's just, we got to go out there and do it, and do it consistently. We have times when we're great, and we have times when we're really bad. We just got to find some consistency throughout the course of games more times than not.»

The Nets have had a litany of issues this season and will continue to deal with them as they try navigate the next few weeks without star forward Kevin Durant, who sprained the MCL in his left knee on Jan. 15.

But Wednesday marked the group's lowest point of the season — a loss to a Kings team that came in having lost seven straight and was just 2-12 over its previous 14 games.

«You know just as good as I do,» Harden said when asked why the consistency hasn't been there for the group. «We just got a lot of different things internally — lineups, we haven't had no continuity yet. So it's just one of those things where you got to keep going. There's nothing else to do but keep going, keep pushing forward.»

One of the reasons for the lack of consistency is due, at least in part, to the part-time status of guard Kyrie Irving, who rejoined the team last month and cannot play in home games because of New York City's vaccination mandate. Irving, who is not vaccinated against COVID-19, said he could understand