Kings 117, Jazz 104
With everything they accomplished during their 10-game winning streak, the Jazz probably are entitled to say exactly what Deron Williams did Friday night: "It's just one game . . . one bad quarter."
That's true, but you probably wanted the Jazz to go down in a more stirring defeat, if their losing streak had to end. As opposed to getting burned by Quincy Douby and John Salmons in the fourth quarter.
The Jazz had an 85-80 lead late in the third but closed the quarter on the wrong end of an 8-2 run. Ron Artest hit a 23-footer, Kyle Korver committed a loose ball foul that sent Salmons to the foul line and Douby hit a harbinger three-pointer.
It was all downhill from there for the Jazz. They went just 7 of 21 in the fourth quarter with three turnovers. Deron Williams telegraphed one pass to Korver that Douby took for a dunk and Andrei Kirilenko had a killer turnover coming out of a timeout.
Beno Udrih did a great job collapsing the Jazz defense on a drive and kicking out to Douby for a three-pointer. The Kings didn't need Mike Bibby or Kevin Martin to play a second in the fourth quarter to win going away.
"We started off the game pretty poor and finished pretty poor," Williams said. "I had a couple careless turnovers. We just really didn't execute and we couldn't stop them."
The Kings also shot 31 free throws in the second half, 18 in the third quarter. The Jazz fouled Artest on three drives in the first three minutes of the third and wound up in the penalty with 7:33 to play in the quarter.
The Jazz were called for another four fouls in the first 3 1-2 minutes of the fourth quarter, three of which Douby and Salmons drew by attacking the basket. The Kings made 17 more free throws than the Jazz shot in the game.
* * *
Can't say enough about the way Ronnie Price played off the bench. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan turned to him as a last resort with 4:02 left in the second quarter, hoping he could slow Kevin Martin and provide a spark with the Jazz down by 13.
Having played against Martin in practice those two years with the Kings clearly paid off. Price came up with two steals, chased Martin effectively on defense and knocked down two three-pointers of his own.
That pulled the Jazz within 58-57 at halftime and Sloan brought back Price with the starters to open the second half. Price made two smart passes to set up three-pointers by Kirilenko and Williams and made a spectacular play splitting two defenders on a drive.
Sloan likely was waiting to bring Price back against Martin in the fourth quarter, an opportunity that never presented itself. Price finished with 11 points, three steals and two assists and definitely made a case for more minutes.
* * *
Martin was hot in the first quarter, scoring 16 points, as was Sloan, who erupted after watching Mikki Moore set what he thought was an illegal screen on Korver to free Martin for a three-pointer. Sloan was slapped with a technical by referee Derek Richardson.
* * *
C.J. Miles started in place of Ronnie Brewer, picked up two early fouls against Martin and wound up being posterized by Artest in the second quarter. After a Matt Harpring miss, Artest ran out and threw down a huge one-handed dunk that Miles tried to contest.
* * *
The Jazz wound up splitting the season series with Sacramento and didn't exactly have two fourth quarters to remember at Arco Arena. They were trounced 43-30 in the fourth quarter of their 117-107 loss on Dec. 4.
That's a combined score of 72-47 in the two fourth quarters at Arco this season. Now the Jazz return home to play the Bulls, one of just two teams they have yet to play this season. They still have four games left against the 10-38 Timberwolves.
--Ross Siler
That's true, but you probably wanted the Jazz to go down in a more stirring defeat, if their losing streak had to end. As opposed to getting burned by Quincy Douby and John Salmons in the fourth quarter.
The Jazz had an 85-80 lead late in the third but closed the quarter on the wrong end of an 8-2 run. Ron Artest hit a 23-footer, Kyle Korver committed a loose ball foul that sent Salmons to the foul line and Douby hit a harbinger three-pointer.
It was all downhill from there for the Jazz. They went just 7 of 21 in the fourth quarter with three turnovers. Deron Williams telegraphed one pass to Korver that Douby took for a dunk and Andrei Kirilenko had a killer turnover coming out of a timeout.
Beno Udrih did a great job collapsing the Jazz defense on a drive and kicking out to Douby for a three-pointer. The Kings didn't need Mike Bibby or Kevin Martin to play a second in the fourth quarter to win going away.
"We started off the game pretty poor and finished pretty poor," Williams said. "I had a couple careless turnovers. We just really didn't execute and we couldn't stop them."
The Kings also shot 31 free throws in the second half, 18 in the third quarter. The Jazz fouled Artest on three drives in the first three minutes of the third and wound up in the penalty with 7:33 to play in the quarter.
The Jazz were called for another four fouls in the first 3 1-2 minutes of the fourth quarter, three of which Douby and Salmons drew by attacking the basket. The Kings made 17 more free throws than the Jazz shot in the game.
* * *
Can't say enough about the way Ronnie Price played off the bench. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan turned to him as a last resort with 4:02 left in the second quarter, hoping he could slow Kevin Martin and provide a spark with the Jazz down by 13.
Having played against Martin in practice those two years with the Kings clearly paid off. Price came up with two steals, chased Martin effectively on defense and knocked down two three-pointers of his own.
That pulled the Jazz within 58-57 at halftime and Sloan brought back Price with the starters to open the second half. Price made two smart passes to set up three-pointers by Kirilenko and Williams and made a spectacular play splitting two defenders on a drive.
Sloan likely was waiting to bring Price back against Martin in the fourth quarter, an opportunity that never presented itself. Price finished with 11 points, three steals and two assists and definitely made a case for more minutes.
* * *
Martin was hot in the first quarter, scoring 16 points, as was Sloan, who erupted after watching Mikki Moore set what he thought was an illegal screen on Korver to free Martin for a three-pointer. Sloan was slapped with a technical by referee Derek Richardson.
* * *
C.J. Miles started in place of Ronnie Brewer, picked up two early fouls against Martin and wound up being posterized by Artest in the second quarter. After a Matt Harpring miss, Artest ran out and threw down a huge one-handed dunk that Miles tried to contest.
* * *
The Jazz wound up splitting the season series with Sacramento and didn't exactly have two fourth quarters to remember at Arco Arena. They were trounced 43-30 in the fourth quarter of their 117-107 loss on Dec. 4.
That's a combined score of 72-47 in the two fourth quarters at Arco this season. Now the Jazz return home to play the Bulls, one of just two teams they have yet to play this season. They still have four games left against the 10-38 Timberwolves.
--Ross Siler
1:52 AM
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