Injury Bug Bites Kings In Blowout Loss To Jazz
Apr 5, 2019, 8:23 PM | Updated: 8:30 pm
(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
Down three players on Friday night in Utah, the Sacramento Kings struggled on the second night of a back to back as they fell 119-98 to the Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City.
Sacramento, now 39-41 on the year, has two more chances for their 40th win of the season as the season winds down.
🚨 Video evidence the ball can go in… 😅 pic.twitter.com/KFgdL3gRAw
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) April 6, 2019
Playing on the second night of a back-to-back, Sacramento struggled out of the gates as they fell behind 10-0 early and never recovered. Utah easily went wire to wire, as they won their seventh game in a row and twelfth game out of their last thirteen contests. The Jazz, who currently sit at 49-30 and in the fifth seed playoff spot, were led by rookie guard Grayson Allen who put on an offensive display on Friday night. The rookie from Duke had a career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting that included a 3-for-3 showing from downtown. Donovan Mitchell scored 23 for Utah, while Joe Ingles and Rudy Gobert scored 17 points apiece.
The Kings, already without the services of Willie Cauley-Stein due to personal reasons, were hampered by injuries early on Friday. De’Aaron Fox took a bad step in the first quarter, stepping on Grayson Allen’s for as he left the game with a sore foot. Kings center Kosta Koufos, playing big minutes in response to Cauley-Stein’s absence left the game in the second quarter due to a strained left calf.
All three Kings are considered day-to-day.
Buddy Hield led Sacramento in scoring as he finished with 17 points. Hield hit three three-pointers, giving him 596 threes over his first three seasons. If Hield can hit four more threes over his last two games, he will hold the record for most three-point field goals over a player’s first three seasons, passing Portland guard Damian Lillard’s mark of 599.
Marvin Bagley III got the start at center, as he finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds over 30 minutes. Nemanja Bjelica and Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 10 points apiece while Yogi Ferrell added 13 points to round out the scoring for Sacramento. Every Kings player that saw the floor on Friday scored at least two points.
Coming Up
Sacramento returns to Golden 1 Center on Sunday for their last home game of the season.
Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans will come into town looking to spoil the Kings home finale, as Sacramento is aiming for their 40th win. With a win, Sacramento would have their first 40-win season since 2005-06 when they finished 44-38.
Catch all the action right here on Sports 1140 KHTK, starting with pregame coverage at 5:30pm with tipoff following at 6:00pm.
