Game Thread: Utah Jazz face potential trap game against desperate Kings

The Utah Jazz are off to a red-hot start, but don’t expect a cakewalk as they prepare to take on a hungry 0-5 Sacramento Kings team.

The Utah Jazz are off to an impressive start as they boast a solid 4-1 record in the season’s early going. Although both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were out of commission in Utah’s latest bout against the LA Clippers, it was still an exceptional win in which the Jazz looked superb. With that being the case, they should be feeling good as they take on Sacramento on Friday.

That’s especially true considering that one of the Jazz’s four wins already came against the Kings. And it came in absolutely dominant fashion. In the debut of the new throwback purple mountain jerseys, Utah went off to the tune of a 113-81 beatdown in a game that was never close.

Unfortunately for Sacramento, that was far from the only game in which they’ve struggled. They started the year by being crushed by the Phoenix Suns and most recently suffered a disheartening loss to the lowly Charlotte Hornets on their own home court.

In other words, the 0-5 start has been more than just misfortune. It’s been downright ugly play.

This is especially disappointing for Kings fans who were hoping their squad could build off a surprisingly promising 2018-19 campaign that saw them finish just one spot out of playoff contention. Sure, there’s still a lot of season left, but thus far, this year’s rendition of the Kings looks far worse than last year’s as they rank in the bottom five in both offensive and defensive efficiency.

Personally, I think a lot of that blame rests on the shoulders of head coach Luke Walton, who I believed was an atrocious hire for the Kings from the get-go, but there are several other factors involved as well.

Nevertheless, in spite of Sacramento’s early struggles, abysmal record and the fact that the Jazz pummeled them less than a week ago, this isn’t a game in which the Jazz can afford to get complacent. As poorly as the Kings have played thus far, they have a lot of electrifying talent on their team in the likes of De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic, among others.

They are going to be absolutely desperate to get the winless monkey off their back, especially as the last team remaining that has yet to win a game this season.

That can make for a dangerous group, especially since they’ll be playing on their home court. When the Kings have played with pace, their high-octane players have given the Jazz some issues in the past, so if they can recapture that, the visiting Salt Lake City squad will have to be cautious.

Utah is absolutely the favorite to win, but by no means should they be looking at this contest as a gimme game. In fact, sandwiched in between two bouts against the LA Clippers, it isn’t hard to see this as a potential trap game wherein the Jazz may potentially overlook a weak Sacramento team that turns desperation into effective execution.

Game Data

Broadcast Info

Tip-off: 8 PM MT on November 1 from Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, CA
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: The Zone Sports Network (97.5 FM & 1280 AM Salt Lake City)

Projected Starting Lineups

Injuries

One contributing factor to the Sacramento Kings’ struggles has been the absence of Marvin Bagley, as he has been sidelined with a thumb injury. He remains out for Friday’s contest while Kings big man Harry Giles is questionable with a knee injury.

On the Jazz side, everyone is ready to go save for Dante Exum who continues to rehab from knee surgery.

Prediction

Our friends over at The Action Network have the Jazz as 5.5-point favorites in this one. Normally, given the discrepancies in the two teams’ talent level and record, you’d likely expect the Jazz to have a greater edge. However, I suspect even the oddsmakers sense the Kings’ desperation, and acknowledge that they’re well overdue for a win.

As I’ve stated, that makes things somewhat scary, but I still think the Jazz will find a way to come out on top. And by more than they’re projected to, at that. I have Jazz winning 105-97.

Discussion

#UTAatSAC will be the Twitter hashtag for the game and the comment thread here below will be available for further discussion.