Sacramento Kings look to avenge early season loss to Utah Jazz

The Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz will meet for the second time this season on Wednesday, Nov. 21. Can the Kings avenge their early season loss to the Jazz?

The Utah Jazz have owned the Sacramento Kings recently. Sacramento hasn’t beaten Utah since December of 2016 and has lost six straight to the Jazz. Can they buck that trend in Utah tonight?

While recent history would suggest no, the Jazz are 4-6 over their last 10 games and have seen their star-guard in Donovan Mitchell struggle mightily this season.

In their first meeting in the season opener, the Sacramento Kings only lost by six on the strength of De’Aaron Fox and Willie Cauley-Stein’s 44 combined points.

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In fact, all of Sacramento’s starters played excellent in that game with all finishing at least +9 for the game. The bench, meanwhile, saw everyone finish -12 or worse. The Kings are going to need plus-contributions from the bench unit to top this Jazz team though.

Fortunately for Sacramento, they now have Bogdan Bogdanovic back in the fold after he missed the first month of the season recovering from knee-surgery. The Kings also trotted out Yogi Ferrell with the starting unit in that first meeting, something that won’t be the case this time around.

As was profiled by Sactown Royalty’s Sanjesh Singh, this Kings team only goes as far as Nemanja Bjelica does, a trend that started on opening night. In their first meeting, Bjelica put up 18 points and eight rebounds on 8-12 shooting and was a +12 for the game.

Sacramento will need similar, if not better, output from him in this one. That’s not to put it all solely on Belly’s shoulders, however. De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield are going to be equally important in securing a win in this one.

The x-factor in this one though, might just be Marvin Bagley III. Bagley is coming off the best game of his young career, after putting up 15 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and three blocks on 6-11 shooting and was huge down the stretch in the Kings win over the Thunder.

In the season opener, Bagley has just six points and five rebounds on 3-6 shooting. It was his first game, of course, and he’s become a better player since then, as he’s gotten more comfortable with the NBA and his teammates.

If Sacramento can get solid play from their starters and Bagley off the bench, they’ll have a good shot to knock off a Jazz team for the first time in nearly two years.

As with most teams around the league after the first month, this isn’t the same Sacramento Kings team that took the court on day one. They’ve added some pieces in Bogdan Bogdanovic and Troy Williams and have shifted their rotations and starting lineup.

Of course, the Jazz are still no slouch despite starting the season slow at just 8-9. If this game was being played in Sacramento, the Kings might have an edge, but given they’ll be in Utah, I think the Jazz take the win here.

Despite this, fans should keep a close eye on Bagley in this one. He’s coming off a great game and if he’s able to start stringing together some equally strong performances it could change the dynamic of this team.

De’Aaron Fox is another player to keep an eye on here too. He’s coming off a six point, 13 assist game, but shot just 1-10 against the Thunder. Needless to say, Sacramento won’t have a shot if Fox is off for a second-straight night.

It’s also hard to discount just how important having Bogdanovic back is for this team, his return alone could be a difference maker in this one. Bogi has started to return to form over the last several games and his scoring and playmaking off the bench could very well put the Sacramento Kings over the top.

Still, it’s hard to overlook that recent history against Utah. Sacramento certainly has a chance, but it might not be a good one.

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Final: Sacramento Kings 119, Utah Jazz 124

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