Utah Jazz: Bench comes up big in win over Kings

SACRAMENTO — Jerry Sloan put his all of his faith in several of his subs Tuesday night, and it proved to be well worth the risk.

Because starting point guard Deron Williams carried the Jazz with back-to-back baskets late in the fourth quarter of a 99-94 victory at Sacramento.

But it was the bench that really lifted Utah, which improved to 12-7 after winning the front end of a back-to-back set that closes with tonight's home game against Miami.

Much, that is, to Sloan's relief.

"Well, I don't hold my breath. I was just praying," the Jazz coach said when asked how he handled watching his second-unit players perform.

"I can't hold my breath very long," he added. "But I can pray a long time."

Williams' driving layup with one minute and five seconds remaining put the Jazz ahead to stay at 91-90, and his 17-foot pull-up jumper off a screen set by power forward Paul Millsap with 32.9 seconds to go gave Utah the cushion it needed to ensure beating Sacramento (5-15) for the second time in five nights.

That came, though, only after Sloan's club — which was playing its first game of four in five nights — got major help from a rather unusual combination.

And the Jazz needed whatever they could get from whomever could provide it Tuesday, because their absentees included not only All-Star power forward Carlos Boozer but also sixth man Andrei Kirilenko — Boozer because of a strained left quadriceps tendon that's kept him out for seven straight games now and Kirilenko because of irritation in his right ankle that cropped up in last Saturday's loss to New Jersey.

The Jazz — who committed just 10 turnovers in a blowout win over the Kings on Friday — had a whopping 18 turnovers in the first half, including 11 in the first quarter alone.

But Utah opened the second quarter with a 9-0 run, and — with usual backups and/or end-of-the-bench reserves Millsap, Ronnie Price, Kyle Korver, Morris Almond, and rookie Kosta Koufos doing most of the hard labor — managed to take a 39-38 lead into the break.

The same group was together for much of the second half, when Utah overcame Sacramento's 66-64 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

"Those kids deserved to play," Sloan said.

"I think that was the first time for that crew," added Korver, who finished with a team-high 15 points off the bench and hit 5-of-6 free throws in the final 10.1 seconds to help seal the deal. "But it worked out tonight."

Sloan even closed with seldom-used shooting guard Almond on the floor instead of either starting shooting guard Ronnie Brewer or starting small forward C.J. Miles.