The J-Notes
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Utah Jazz at Sacramento Kings: Keys to righting the ship

By Jared Woodcox

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 13: Sacramento Kings Guard De'Aaron Fox (5) and Sacramento Kings Guard Buddy Hield (24) look on during an NBA game between the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Clippers on January 06, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 13: Sacramento Kings Guard De'Aaron Fox (5) and Sacramento Kings Guard Buddy Hield (24) look on during an NBA game between the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Clippers on January 06, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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SALT LAKE CITY, UT – JANUARY 15: Rodney Hood #5 of the Utah Jazz brings the ball up court in the second half of a game against the Indiana Pacers at Vivint Smart Home Arena on January 15, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Indiana Pacers won 109-94. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – JANUARY 15: Rodney Hood #5 of the Utah Jazz brings the ball up court in the second half of a game against the Indiana Pacers at Vivint Smart Home Arena on January 15, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Indiana Pacers won 109-94. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images) /

Key #2 – Find some offensive firepower

There’s simply no denying that Utah’s offense has absolutely sputtered of late. Over the course of the last 10 games, the Jazz are 30th in the league in points per game (95.7) by a wide margin of nearly six points, I might add, 28th in field goal percentage (42.8 percent), 30th in three-point percentage (29.7 percent) and 29th in offensive rating (100.0).

We all knew this Jazz team was going to be offensively challenged this season, but those marks are unbelievably bad, especially when considering that they’re doing little to make up for it on defense.

While Sacramento’s offense has been much better than Utah’s over that 10-game stretch, for the season the Kings have struggled significantly to put up points as well. So much, in fact, that they’re currently dead last in the league in points per game (97.7) on the year as well as last in offensive rating (99.9).

Oddly enough, though, the Kings are a good three-point shooting team as they rank fifth in the league at 37.5 percent. Still, even that hasn’t been enough to save them in most contests as evidenced by their horrific lack of scoring. With all that being the case, as long as Utah can put together some semblance of offensive firepower, they should be able to outmatch a Kings team that on plenty of occasions has struggled to find the bottom of the net.

Beyond that, Sacramento’s defense is only slightly better than their offense, so the Jazz hypothetically should be able to muster an above-average scoring night against a lackluster Kings team.

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