Utah Jazz: Kings prove royal pain as Jazz record drops to 2-4

Published: Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 12:17 a.m. MST
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 

Beno Udrih caught Andrei Kirilenko on a mismatch, and raced past the small forward.

Center Mehmet Okur couldn't recover and help, and power forward Carlos Boozer got caught flatfooted between his man and a fake from Udrih.

The Sacramento Kings guard was left wide open in the lane to score with 21 seconds remaining, leaving the three Jazz bigs looking a lot like the two statues that stand outside EnergySolutions Arena.

The play was a microcosm of frustration that reigned in Utah's 104-99 loss to the Kings on Saturday night, as well as one of the woes of a team now 2-4 heading into a four-game Eastern road trip that opens Monday night in New York.

"I don't think you can put the game on that one play. I think that's very unfair to put it on one play," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "I think you put it on our whole effort throughout the game, except in the fourth quarter."

A final-period rally bid for the Jazz that fell short was necessitated by the two quarters of debacle in the second and third.

"It was just a bad game for us, period," said point guard Deron Williams, whose 29-point, 15-assist double-double wasn't enough on a night that Sacramento rookie point Tyreke Evans scored a game-high 32 and dished seven assists himself.

Story continues below

Williams banked in a 20-footer at the end of the first quarter to send Utah into the second up 30-19, and when rookie Wesley Matthews dunked an alley-oop pass from Ronnie Price the Jazz were up 15 at 39-24.

But with Evans scoring 12 of his 32 in the second, Sacramento — despite not having Kevin Martin (fractured wrist) and his 30.6 points per game — had it tied at 55 by halftime.

Utah scored the first five points of the third quarter, but with the Jazz unable to break an effective Sacramento zone and the Kings scoring at will, coach Paul Westphal's 2-4 team was able to reel off a 19-0 run.

"We came out strong, and we played for one quarter, and it looked like we thought we had the ballgame won," said Sloan, whose Jazz beat Sacramento four times last season by an average of 16.8 points per game. "And then they came back and had a big second quarter, and really put us on our heels.

"I don't know where all of our energy went, but it went away quickly, because we had a very difficult time trying to guard them, get over screens, get backdoor cuts. They just outplayed us, outcoached us, everything else.

"We weren't guarding anybody," the Jazz coach added. "It looked like we were pouting a little bit here and there because things didn't go our way, and (we) didn't have the energy."

Recent comments

I am 5'8 but if they say Koustos is 7 feet, he looks like 6-10 with...

todd from santa ana | Nov. 9, 2009 at 5:23 p.m.

You mean to tell me that Kosta Koufos could not help this team...

FDR | Nov. 9, 2009 at 5:40 a.m.

You people are whack. It's been 6 GAMES! To the people saying that...

Wow | Nov. 8, 2009 at 11:20 p.m.

Image

Jazz point guard Deron Williams glares over his shoulder as the Kings celebrate their upset over the Jazz on Saturday.

previousnext

Latest comments

Glenn Beck to enter politics?

We all know thet msnbc is biased. They admit it freely. And the PEW research...

Hatch, Bennett oppose health bill

Better to stand in solid opposition with the minority than to go down with a...

Health care bill clears Senate hurdle

How can anything be a right that's paid for or provided by someone else?...

The winners and the losers

Utahns do pretty well at 9th in poverty and with one of the most stable state...

Face the facts YEWT, BYU is going to roll you on Friday and then roll you...

Crow calls for halt to roundups

Isn't this the same Sheryl Crow who suggested we should all use a single...

All of you people who are talking about "legal" "Illegal" and if they were...

Iraq district to make difference

Wouldn't it be great if there could be an LDS chapel "off-base" in Iraq, just...

4A: Timpview wins 4th in 4 years

You should re-read your statement because I don't think anyone has any idea...

Cougars turn focus to dreaded rivals

Bronco will finally allow BYU to run up the score on someone, and that being...

Advertisements