Hayward scores 20 as Jazz rout Kings
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Ten players scored during a 50-22 Utah Jazz run spanning the third and fourth quarters, and Utah held on to beat the Sacramento Kings 112-82 on Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center.
Gordon Hayward returned to the lineup after a one-game absence to score 20 points for Utah (46-29), and Rodney Hood tallied 18.
The Jazz remain 1 1/2 games ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers in the race for the fourth playoff spot in the Western Conference and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Clippers defeated the Washington Wizards 133-124 on Wednesday.
Utah has won three straight in Sacramento for the first time since a seven-game winning streak there from 1994-97.
The Jazz blitzed the Kings with a 11-0 run to start the game and built a first-quarter lead of 43-19. But Sacramento closed the first half with a 24-7 run, then used an 10-2 run to close Utah's lead to 62-60 on Willie Cauley-Stein's short jumper with 4:18 left in the third quarter.
However, Utah's Joe Ingles canned a 3-pointer, and Hayward hit jumpers on successive possessions to push the lead back to 67-60. After Sacramento reduced that lead to 68-65, Shelvin Mack scored and Jeff Withey made an old-fashioned three-pointer to start a 10-2 run to end the period, and the Kings never again were within single-digits.
Alec Burks' two free throws put the Jazz ahead 110-81 with just over a minute left.
Ben McLemore scored 22 points, including 17 in the second quarter to spark the Kings' comeback. Darren Collison added 12, but fellow guard Buddy Hield managed just two points on 1-for-7 shooting.
NOTES: Jazz guards George Hill and Raul Neto missed the game, each with a strained groin. In Hill's absence, coach Quin Snyder started G Dante Exum. The Jazz have used 23 starting lineups this season. ... Kings F Arron Affalo is not with the team because of personal reasons, and the team has not said when he'll return. C Kosta Koufos (rest), and G Garrett Temple (rest) sat out for Sacramento. ... Jazz C Rudy Gobert failed to block a shot, ending 42 consecutive games with one. Gobert's streak is the fourth-longest in team history. Mark Eaton has the three longest, including a team-record 75-game run spanning the 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons. ... According to the Sacramento Bee, citing nbasavant.com, Kings C Willie Cauley-Stein has finished off 21 alley-oop dunks this season.