Kings at Jazz
The Sacramento Kings have lost 10 of their last 11 games and hope to halt the slide when they visit the Utah Jazz on Saturday. Sacramento was routed 101-78 at home by the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, a poor effort that upset All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins. Utah is also near the bottom of the Western Conference and has dropped five of its last six games after suffering a 100-93 road loss to the Phoenix Suns on Friday.
Cousins sharply criticized his teammates after the loss to the Mavericks and didn’t mince words. “It comes down to playing hard and with pride; have some self-respect and act like you care,” Cousins told reporters. “That’s what it comes down to — there’s nothing wrong with this team. It’s the same team everybody was praising at the beginning of the season; it’s just a matter of us changing our attitude.” The Jazz don’t have any vocal critics on their roster, but only the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves possess worse records in the West.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, CSN California (Sacramento), ROOT (Utah)
ABOUT THE KINGS (17-31): Point guard Darren Collison suffered a hip-flexor injury in the loss to Dallas and will miss the game against the Jazz. Collison has been solid while averaging 16.1 points and 5.6 assists, and Ramon Sessions and Ray McCallum will pick up the slack while he is sidelined. Sacramento small forward Rudy Gay is looking to bounce back from a dreadful 2-of-13 shooting effort while scoring 11 points after having 20 or more points in each of the previous four games.
ABOUT THE JAZZ (17-33): Small forward Gordon Hayward continued his tear with 24 points against the Suns and has scored 24 or more points in six of the last eight games. Hayward also has had five or more assists five times during the stretch in which he is averaging 23.4 points, and his shooting has been solid, including making 24-of-43 over the past three contests. Leading rebounder Derrick Favors has been mediocre on the boards over the last four games, grabbing five or fewer in each contest.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Sacramento won this season’s first meeting 101-92 on Dec. 8 behind 29 points from Gay.
2. The Kings are 6-17 under interim coach Tyrone Corbin, who was formerly Utah’s head coach.
3. Utah PG Trey Burke was just 2-of-13 in a five-point effort against Phoenix.