Kings Show Heart, Fall in Opening Night Battle to Utah

by Matt George – Sports 1140 KHTK Reporter

Last week the Sacramento Kings hosted the Utah Jazz in a preseason game. Sacramento was blown out 132-93. Wednesday night, in their home opener against the same Jazz squad, they battled for all 48 minutes, Utah barely escaping the Golden 1 Center with a 123-117 win.

The Kings came out of the gate red-hot. Their frustrations from last week sparking a gritty defensive effort. Sacramento jumped out to an early 16-point lead, and their starting unit overwhelmed Utah early.

“Everyone took (this game) really serious” said Justin Jackson, who finished with eight points on 40% shooting in 30 minutes off the bench.

Utah managed to put together a run of their own late in the first quarter, take the lead early second quarter, and build a comfortable 68-55 advantage at half time. Jae Crowder, Alec Burks and Dante Exum were instrumental off the Jazz bench, making up for the starters’ struggles with 39 combined points. The Kings bench unit was outscored 39-24.

“We need to cut their runs short,” said De’Aaron Fox, “Sometimes those first and second quarter runs can really hurt.”

Fox made the most of his opportunities, bouncing back from his awful preseason stat line against Utah last week with 21 points, seven assists and three steals.

“I made a lot of good decisions today. But I’m always ready to learn from a loss. I understand the game night and day from last year.”

Joe Ingles was the man for the Jazz, who used the 3-point shot to climb their way out of the early hole. Ingles shot 66% from beyond the arc, accounting for four of Utah’s 13 threes. Sacramento did manage to bring the same energy out of the halftime break, retaking the lead at one point in the third quarter. The Kings starters outscored Utah 93-84, with all five finished with double-figures scoring.

Willie Cauley-Stein was excellent, going right at the former Defensive Player of the Year, Rudy Gobert all game. Cauley-Stein managed 23 points on 66% shooting. He also pulled down seven rebounds and had two blocks.

“When you put in the work and believe in the work you are doing, it’s a lot easier,” the 4th-year center told the media following the game.

Overall, there was a lot to like from the Sacramento Kings’ effort against one of the top teams in the Western Conference. Head coach Dave Joerger said as much in his post-game presser.

“We had 34 points in the first quarter. Last week we had 34 points in the first half. Can’t fault our effort whatsoever. We just scored 117 points on the best defensive team.”

The Kings will board a plane to New Orleans tomorrow, and are scheduled to take on the Pelicans on Friday, beginning a short three-game road trip before coming back to the Golden 1 Center on October 24th vs the Memphis Grizzlies.

 

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