Utah Jazz beat slumping Kings

Jazz-Kings boxscore

SALT LAKE CITY — The game was played at EnergySolutions Arena, not at Churchill Downs.

It was simply an NBA regular-season contest, not the Kentucky Derby.

And none of the participants go by the name of Secretariat or Seabiscuit.

But Raja Bell's postgame equestrian metaphor aptly summed up the Utah Jazz's latest come-from-behind win — a 94-83 home victory over the Sacramento Kings that happened despite another slow start.

"I liken it to some of those race horses, you know," Bell said. "They didn't come out of the gates well — and that might be who we are."

This race changed drastically when Jazz coach Jerry Sloan let Spark & Spunk, the European Twin Towers and Mr. Hot Hand out of their stables at the same time.

After some shoddy execution that led to 37.5 percent shooting and a two-point deficit by the end of the first quarter, Sloan went with an interesting lineup that makes up for a lack of offensive punch with plenty of energy.

The slightly strange-looking lineup helped the coach pick up his 1,200th win of his coaching career.

The guard combo of Earl Watson and Ronnie Price provided their usual spark and spunk, the red-hot C.J. Miles continued his sizzling ways and European big men Francisco Elson (Netherlands) and Kyrylo Fesenko (Ukraine) added a much-needed power boost down low to jump-start the sluggish Jazz.

Those five reserves quickly helped turn this game around by galloping to a 9-2 second-quarter start that helped the Jazz take the lead and momentum for good.

"I thought our second group kind of gave us some life in the first half," said Sloan, who returned to the team after a two-game absence. "It seemed like they ran the floor much better. ... Our second unit, I thought, executed and got some decent shots, gives you a chance. Plus they got after (the Kings) a little defensively."

Miles gave the Jazz another brilliant shooting performance, and especially in that pivotal second quarter when he scored 13 of his team-high 20 points on 5-for-7 shooting.

The other four combined for 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots and two steals during the quarter. Meanwhile, the 4-9 Kings were held to 4-for-22 shooting during the period in which the Jazz seized control by outscoring their guests 29-15 to take a commanding 49-37 lead into halftime.