Atkinson looks for fight versus tough veteran teams

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It’s hard to get a young team that’s never played for anything to grasp the importance of every single game, every single possession.

That’s exactly what coach Kenny Atkinson and veterans like DeMarre Carroll are trying to get the Nets to do as they cling to their playoff hopes. Struggling through a seven-game western trip against veteran playoff teams, they’re learning some tough lessons.

“Veteran-type teams, these type teams give us trouble,” Atkinson said before Tuesday night’s miraculous 123-121 win over the Kings. “They screen hard, they hold, they grab. They’re physical. Somehow we’ve got to be a little more resilient in terms of fighting through that physicality.”

The Nets rallied from 28 points down to defeat the young Kings Tuesday after dropping the first three games of the trip against the Thunder, Jazz and Clippers, all veteran-laden playoff teams.

The Nets even found themselves 3 ½-point underdogs to the Kings, who had dropped seven of their previous 10. The Nets are in Los Angeles to play the Lakers on Friday, and won’t face another nonplayoff team the rest of the season.

“At this point in the season ... I don’t believe in moral victories,” Carroll said. “I know how much these games mean — a lot. Me being in the league 10 years I understand, that’s my job as a leader to try to make these guys understand we can’t take these games for granted and we can’t have moral victories this late in the season.”

➤ Atkinson admitted the Nets had second-round pick Rodions Kurucs ticketed for the G-League this season, but he’s exceeded even their expectations.

“He basically came out of nowhere,” Atkinson said. “We expected him to spend a lot of time on Long Island with our G-League team. From Day 1, he made his mark. It was like, ‘Who is this guy?’ Fearless, much more athletic than we thought. That was what really sur- prised me, how athletic he is, how long he is, how fast he is. Obviously, he’s a skilled player. And I just repeat fearless.

“He does not shy away from contact. He’s aggressive to the rim, he’s aggressive defensively. I always joke he must’ve grown up in a tough neighborhood in Latvia. I don’t know if it’s Bedford-Stuyvesant. He comes from somewhere where they breed toughness because he’s a tough character.”