Utah Jazz vs. Sacramento Kings: Keys to the Game

After a disappointing loss on Tuesday night, the Utah Jazz will look to bounce back tonight against the Sacramento Kings, a team they beat handily in their first meeting.

Welp, it’s a new day in Jazz Nation and thank goodness for that. Can we just forget that yesterday’s contest ever even happened? That’s about where I’ll end my analysis of the Utah Jazz’s most recent performance as instead we look forward to a hopeful future that begins tonight with Utah hosting the Sacramento Kings.

Things got a little weird for DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings last night as they defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 126-121 behind Cousins’ 55 points after he was “ejected” from the game then reinstated after a bizarre technical foul in which he appeared to spit his mouthpiece out at the Blazers bench. Yeah, it’s as weird as it sounds, you can check it out below:

It seemed his mouthpiece had a bit of a mind of its own, but apparently the incident was deemed an accident and Cousins was allowed to stay on the floor.

His antics aside, there’s no denying that the Kings’ volatile big man had an incredible game as his 55 points and 13 rebounds obviously provided the lift that led to the victory. It was a very different performance than what he showed the last time Sacramento visited Utah as Rudy Gobert and company managed to hold Cousins to just 16 points on 7-of-22 shooting.

Rudy has been on a tear lately and though he had a bit of a down game last night (but honestly, who didn’t?) he still looked like the Jazz’s best player out there and he was able to log his eighth straight double-double with 11 points and 16 rebounds.

Nevertheless, it’s been rare this season for Gobert to ever have two quiet games in a row, so I expect him to come out firing and ready to make Cousins’ life miserable once again in Sacramento’s return to Salt Lake. It’s practically a sure thing that if Rudy and the Jazz hope to slow down the Kings and get back to their winning ways, it will start with containing Cousins.

Key Match-up – Rudy Gobert and DeMarcus Cousins

I’ve already touched on this in the intro and it’s the same key match-up that I selected the last time these two teams met, but it is the simple fact of the matter. Cousins is far and above the Kings’ best player and how Gobert fares against him will likely determine the outcome of the game.

Despite Cousins’ struggles last time he played the Jazz, he’s still on fire this season, averaging 28.3 points and 10.7 rebounds while shooting 45.1 percent from the field and boasting a respectable long-range jumper, shooting 35.8 percent from behind the arc.

And you can bet that he hasn’t forgotten how well Rudy played against him in the first meeting. Cousins is one of those permanent chip on the shoulder guys, so if you give him an extra reason to be upset, you can bet he’s going to come out angry and ready to prove himself.

Yet, in that lies the threat of trying to do too much. Gobert and the Jazz had an awesome game plan set for stopping Cousins and I’m confident that they’ll be able to execute it once again.

Key Stat – Turnovers

Despite a solid win the last time the Jazz took on the Kings in which they held them to just eight fourth quarter points, the one blemish on their performance was the unacceptable amount of turnovers. Utah finished the game with 22 of them, well over their season average.

However, that season average may continue to climb if they don’t get things cleaned up in a hurry. In Utah’s past seven games, turning the ball over has been a huge problem, most notably in last night’s blowout loss to the Warriors which saw the Jazz cash in 23 turnovers. Utah had only four more made field goals than they had turnovers in the game. Yikes.

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So it’s something that obviously needs cleaned up if Utah wants to continue on a winning course. They’ve managed to find a way to win games despite the miscues, but it certainly isn’t a recipe for success.

The Jazz should get a huge boost in this department once George Hill returns, but in the meantime, the likes of Shelvin Mack, Dante Exum and even Gordon Hayward have a lot of work to do as the primary ball handlers. While the Jazz proved that they could beat the Kings even with an absurd number of turnovers, it’s a safe bet that they’ll need to do better in this area if they hope to win tonight.

Key Performer – Gordon Hayward

It was Gordon Hayward who shined last time these two teams met as he put in 26 points while shooting well from both the field and behind the arc. I’ll admit I was a bit tempted to not slot Hayward in this spot again after his embarrassing performance last night that quite honestly had me pretty flustered.

While I understand having an off game, there’s a difference between having an off game and simply disappearing. Last night, Hayward completely disappeared. That’s something that an All-Star hopeful simply cannot do.

Yet for the sake of not sounding too harsh, it really was just one game and there’s no denying how great Hayward has been all season long. If anything, his poor performance against Golden State should inspire him to come out guns blazing against a hapless Sacramento squad that doesn’t boast the defensive personnel to stop Hayward.

Prior to Hayward’s no-show against the Warriors, he had scored 20 points or more in 11 of Utah’s previous 13 contests and I fully expect him to get back to that trend in tonight’s game.

Prediction – Jazz 102, Kings 94

Make no mistake about it, last night was a painful reality check for the Utah Jazz. They came out of the gates looking frightened and ill-prepared. They were outmatched in every way.

Nevertheless, they aren’t the first and won’t be the last team to be embarrassed by a historically good Warriors team, so the loss is far from a dooming incident. The Jazz are still a highly-talented team and are more than capable of taking down the Kings tonight.

However, given Utah’s struggles on offense of late, particularly in regards to turning the ball over, I’m feeling a little less optimistic than I was earlier in the week, so I’m predicting a closer contest than what I had projected previously.

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Yet both teams are coming into this game on the second night of a back-to-back and not only will the Jazz have home court advantage, but they’re currently 5-1 on games with no rest in between while the Kings are polar opposites at 1-5. Sacramento is also a dismal 5-11 on the road, so there are plenty of indications that Utah will be able to come back with yet another win.

And a morale raiser is much needed after last night’s thumping to help get the Jazz back on track before they face another elite opponent in the Toronto Raptors on Friday.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com