The Utah Jazz defeated the Sacramento Kings last night for the second time in this young NBA season, 119-113. We’d previously written that the Jazz ought to take the Kings seriously: while that remains true, they’re officially halfway towards a season sweep of the beleaguered California franchise. Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz advance to 6-1 in a season that continues to bolster their championship aspirations. Last night was not the cleanest victory that Salt Lake City’s finest are capable of: without spoiling the article, we’ll say that one increasingly ugly shooting slump continued.
On the other hand, another, arguably more damaging cold streak is looking definitively broken.
We’re getting ahead of ourselves like the Utah Jazz on a fastbreak following a steal from Royce O’Neale. Here are 3 studs and 1 dud from the Jazz’s defeat of the Sacramento Kings last night.
Utah Jazz stud: Royce O’Neale
Royce O’Neale didn’t necessarily fill up the box score in last night’s victory. That’s fine. Chasing statistics has never been the defensive-minded wing’s style.
The eye test validated O’Neale’s contributions to the Jazzmen’s cause. He busted up an early Kings play that led to an easy basket for teammate Donovan Mitchell: while he wasn’t credited with the steal, it was O’Neale that disrupted the passing lane with a quick rotation.
O’Neale’s pestering perimeter defensive was a large part of why the Kings were consistently inefficient. De’Aaron Fox shot 4/15 from the field in this contest, and backcourt mate Tyrese Haliburton was 6/16.
O’Neale wasn’t the primary defender on either, but his point-of-attack defense was problematic for each young star guard on several occasions. O’Neale finished this contest +13, the highest mark of any member of the Utah Jazz.
Every team needs star players to win games, but they need glue guys who do the dirty work as well. Royce O’Neale managed to get his hands all over this Utah Jazz victory.