Road Reaction: Utah Jazz 98, Sacramento Kings 91

The Sacramento Kings played down a man in the second half after DeMarcus Cousins picked up his 12th technical and third ejection of the season while play was stopped at the intermission.  The result was an overtime loss to the Utah Jazz to end the Kings six-game road trip by the score of 98-91.

Notes and Analysis

• Jason Thompson bounced back after a rough three week stretch, finishing with a season-high in points with 23 and 10 rebounds in 45 minutes of action.  Without Cousins in the lineup, Thompson owned the post against a very good Utah frontline.  Thompson needs to fight harder for rebounds when he and Cousins are on the floor at the same time.

• Tyreke Evans continued his recent surge, scoring 20 points on 7-for-15 shooting.  When he is healthy, Evans has been a force to reckon with.  Unfortunately, that hasn’t been that often.

• Isaiah Thomas scored 17 points, but once again struggled to pick up assists.  In 38 minutes, the Kings starting point guard finished with three assists for a team that ended with just 13 on the night.  The Kings have scorers and they need Thomas to set up his teammates for easy buckets.
  
  
• John Salmons‘s struggles continued tonight in Utah.  The veteran wing scored just six points in 22 minutes and has just four double-digit scoring games in his last 20 outings.  It might be time to give Tyreke another look down there and free Marcus Thornton.

• Jimmer Fredette struggled with his shooting tonight in front of a huge BYU crowd.  He finished with two points on 0-for-5 shooting and added an assist, but turned the ball over three times in 13 minutes.  Jimmer is doing a much better job of keeping his dribble alive.  He easily could have had a few more assists in this one if his teammates hit their open jumpers.

• The bench was a no-show once again for the Kings, getting outscored 41-19.  When the starters leave the game, this team goes in the tank very quickly.

• Stat of the Night:  Cousins finished with 10 points and six rebounds before getting tossed from the game for arguing with an official during halftime.  What a shame.

Three answers to three questions pondered

1.  How many players will Keith Smart use in the first half alone?

Smart used 10 players in the first half – the starters along with Marcus Thornton, Thomas Robinson,  Fredette, James Johnson and Chuck Hayes.  In the second half, Smart used even a tighter rotation without the services of Cousins.  Travis Outlaw, Aaron Brooks and Francisco Garcia received the dreaded DNP – Coach’s Decision.

2.  Will Randy Foye have a field day against the Kings?

Foye had a nice game once again against the Kings, finishing with 20 points and six assists in 36 minutes.  His numbers were better than Thomas’, but not by much.

3.  Will we see another close margin of victory?

This was a great game.  Both teams fought hard and it took overtime for the home team to pull it out.  If the Kings weren’t stuck in quicksand, this might develop into a rivalry.

Statistical support provided by NBA.com.