Jazz at Kings
All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins returns from a one-game suspension when
the Sacramento Kings host the Utah Jazz on Saturday. Cousins was
disciplined for being insubordinate toward coach George Karl during
Wednesday's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
General manager Vlade Divac said he hated the fact he had to suspend Cousins but also said a message needed to be sent in regards to what the organization will tolerate. "He went a little far, and we have to do things to be on the same page," Divac told reporters. "I think DeMarcus is doing very well this year. He is playing very hard. This is something where he was emotionally overwhelmed and did something that he shouldn't do." Utah routed the Washington Wizards 114-93 on Friday but it was only its second victory in the past nine games. The Jazz are in ninth place in the Western Conference and need to chase down one of three teams - Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks or Portland Trail Blazers - to land the final Western Conference playoff berth.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, ROOT (Utah), CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (30-35): Journeyman Shelvin Mack scored a career-best 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting against the Wizards and is shoring up Utah's season-long shaky point guard play. Mack was acquired from the Atlanta Hawks at the trading deadline as the Jazz began to realize their insufficient play at the position was hindering their playoff possibilities, and he is averaging 11.7 points in 11 games. "Maybe we can kind of put that Shelvin's responsible for our wins and losses to bed," Utah coach Quin Snyder said afterward. "He played well. He had a lot of those shots in other games and didn't make them. He did a nice job of being aggressive offensively."
ABOUT THE KINGS (25-39): Sacramento has fallen out of the playoff mix in the West by dropping eight of its last nine games, including Friday's 107-100 loss to the Orlando Magic. It had appeared Cousins and Karl had worked through some of their differences when the Kings were playing well in January but the latest meltdown displays that Cousins merely tolerates the veteran coach and doesn't fully respect him. "Hopefully we can communicate and he gets to a good place," Karl said after the loss to Orlando. "(Divac) handled that (Thursday) and Vlade is the lead man in how he wants this to be discussed. For me, it's behind closed doors and shouldn't be discussed."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Cousins averaged 29.5 points and 13.5 rebounds as the Kings won this season's first two meetings against the Jazz.
2. Utah C Rudy Gobert is averaging 14.5 rebounds over the past eight games and has been in double digits seven times during the span.
3. Sacramento backup G Marco Belinelli scored 17 points against Orlando and is averaging 13.6 points over the past five games.