Game 39 Notes: Sacramento Kings Win Thriller In Utah

With the help of DeMarcus Cousins 36 points and 17 rebounds (6th straight double-double) and Rudy Gay’s 24 points and 9 rebounds the Sacramento Kings were able to defeat the Utah Jazz in a thriller 103-101.

Aside from Cousins and Gay, other notable Kings from last night were Rajon Rondo who recorded 13 assists and Willie Cauley-Stein who continues to play great defense since coming back from his finger injury. He was able to grab 8 rebounds and have 1 block.

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Notable players for the Jazz last night were Gordon Hayward, who shot horribly from the court, but still recorded 21 points and 8 rebounds and Trey Burke who scored 17 points. Also, rookie Trey Lyles played well scoring 19 points of his own as well.

In the first quarter the Kings offense was solid and their defense, thanks to the Jazz poor shooting, was adequate allowing just 12 points. In the second quarter, the Kings defense couldn’t catch the breaks they were getting at the start of the game, which allowed the Jazz to score 33 points for the quarter. This had the Jazz only trailing 56-45 going into halftime.

Jan 14, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Rudy Gay (8) reacts after hitting the game winning basket against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated Utah Jazz 103-101. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports /

In the second half, the Kings played another solid 12 minute period and held on to the 11 point lead they had in the first half ending the third quarter. But as the fourth quarter progressed, the Jazz slowly crept into Sacramento’s lead.

The Kings did have an eight-point lead with under a minute remaining left, but Utah found a way to tie the game with 4 seconds left in the contest.

It seemed like the Kings were encountering another Dallas meltdown again, where last week the Kings lead the Mavericks by 7 points with 1 ½ minutes left just to give it away and lose in the end.

In this situation, however, the worse case scenario was overtime, but the Kings didn’t care for that. Instead, Rajon Rondo threw an inbound pass to Rudy Gay at the top of the key. He then dribbled right and shot a mid-range wing jump shot for the lead, which he knocked down and eventually sealed the win for Sacramento (video here).

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Although it was vital for Sacramento to win this game and make ground in the Western Conference standings, the Kings did a poor job tonight in finishing the game. The team had a commanding lead with under a minute left and poorly executed down the stretch, especially their perimeter defense which allowed two vital three-pointers to go in for the Jazz.

Cousins also has noticed this flaw about his team, and after the game had this to say about it:

"“The biggest thing is it showed we’re still not there,” Cousins said. “We’re still making the same mistakes, we’re still letting teams back in games, we’re still letting up in games defensively. We can’t be the team we want to be continuing to make these same mistakes.” (per The Sacramento Bee)"

Overall, the Kings won the game and now are within 1 game back from the 8th seed in the Western Conference. Although this game is chalked down as a win, the team continues to struggle finishing games the right away, and will need to improve in this aspect of their game going forward.

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