When the Sacramento Kings play the Utah Jazz on Monday night in Salt Lake City, NBA fans are in for a treat if the past repeats itself.
When the two teams met twice over the course of four days almost three months ago, they played two riveting games. This season, the two teams have provided a couple of the best stories in the league.
Interestingly, Sacramento and Utah will meet twice more over the course of five days this week.
The first two games were won by Sacramento by a total of three points. Kevin Huerter scored a three-pointer with 9.2 seconds remaining in the first meeting, which the Kings won 126-125 at home on December 30.
De’Aaron Fox emerged victorious four nights later. In the fourth quarter of a 117-115 victory over Utah, he scored 22 of his 37 points with 0.4 seconds remaining on a driving layup. After being initially deemed good, Lauri Markannen’s dramatic shot at the buzzer was overruled on replay.
For the Jazz (34-36) and Kings (43-27), these two games are crucial with only 12 games remaining for each team.
Sacramento entered Sunday tied for runner up in the Western Gathering standings with Memphis, and the primary spot Denver Pieces are still reachable. Since All-Star Weekend, the Kings have won 11 of 13, seven of those victories coming on the road.
Naturally, the Kings want to shine in their first postseason appearance since 2006.
Despite the Wizards’ physical style, Domantas Sabonis led the Kings once more with 30 points, 10 assists, and 9 rebounds.
Markkanen, an All-NBA candidate for the Jazz, scored 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Utah’s comeback victory over the Boston Celtics on Saturday. Utah followed by 19 in the main half and six in the last three minutes prior to figuring out how to win.
Will Hardy, the Jazz coach, thinks that these kinds of games will help his young players grow in the long run.
After missing a pair of crucial free throws earlier in the game, rookie Walker Kessler blocked the Celtics’ game-winning layup in the final seconds after Talen Horton-Tucker scored the winning basket with 35 seconds remaining.
