Jazz at Kings
Sacramento star DeMarcus Cousins is mired in a deep shooting slump and
aims to end his funk when the Kings host the Utah Jazz on Tuesday.
Cousins is averaging just 14.3 points on 13-of-53 shooting over the last
three games and, not surprisingly, the Kings lost all three contests.
Sacramento traditionally struggles when Cousins sits out or plays poorly, so it needs the big man to rediscover his stroke. "I've never been in a stretch like this, but stay positive, stay together, stay in the gym and let's try to figure out whatever it is that's going wrong," Cousins told reporters. "I know it's a mental thing right now. It's hard to get in that rhythm when you're not seeing that ball go through the basket at a rate you're used to. But you've got to stay positive, that's all I can do.” Utah is looking to follow up Saturday's strong performance, when it survived 48 points from Indiana star Paul George and posted a 122-119 overtime victory over the Pacers. Derrick Favors stood out in the interior with a career-high 35 points to go with 13 rebounds.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBATV, ROOT (Utah), CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (9-9): Favors and small forward Gordon Hayward (22 points) combined for 57 points in the victory over Indiana and coach Quin Snyder said he challenged both players in the previous day's practice. "Terrific, terrific job by both of them," Snyder said after the victory. "I asked them for that. We needed those two guys to step up. Our two best players." Utah will require more strong offensive efforts by the duo with 7-foot-1 center Rudy Gobert (knee) out indefinitely and not around to anchor the defense.
ABOUT THE KINGS (7-15): Cousins was 5-of-20 shooting while having 13 points and 10 rebounds in Sunday's loss to Oklahoma City and he made it clear his back isn't an issue. Coach George Karl sees another factor in the equation - that a player just isn't going to be at his best the entire season. "Over 82 games, it's difficult to be a great player every night," Karl told reporters. "That just doesn't happen all the time. Matchups sometimes are poor. This team has got three really big guys or (Houston's) Dwight Howard is a pretty good big guy. When you're the first priority of a scouting report, it's sometimes tough to be great."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Jazz have won five of the past six meetings.
2. Sacramento PG Rajon Rondo averages 12.3 points but has tallied seven or less in three of the past five games.
3. Utah F Trevor Booker has two double-doubles over the past four games.