Saturday night’s matchup between the Sacramento Kings and the Utah Jazz, which will have an impact on both teams’ playoff positions, will put their late-season endurance to the test. Both teams had different outcomes in the first of their back-to-back games.
The Jazz were hammered 144-116 by the visiting Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night, while the Kings defeated the Phoenix Suns 135-127 in Sacramento.
The Kings (44-29) thus maintained their position as the No. 3 group in the Western season finisher race while staying two games behind the Memphis Grizzlies in their duel for the second spot behind the front-running Denver Chunks.
If the Kings defeat Utah on Saturday, they will move within one victory of their first playoff berth since 2006 and will win the season series 3-1. Two is the magic number for Sacramento to secure that position.
In the meantime, the Jazz will take the court ranked 12th in the West, tied for last in losses with the No. No. 10 and the Oklahoma City Thunder 11 Mavericks of Dallas
Sacramento probably will be without star watch De’Aaron Fox for the significant challenge after he must be pulled from Friday’s success in the second from last quarter with an irritated right hamstring.
At that point, Fox had 19 points.
Domantas Sabonis (27 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists), Kevin Huerter (team-high 29 points), and Harrison Barnes (23 points) ensured that Fox’s heroics in the final minutes of the game would not be required. After building a double-digit lead with 45 points in the third quarter, they kept the Suns at bay.
When the Jazz (35-38) last played in Sacramento on December 30, Huerter hit a 3-pointer with 9.2 seconds left to give the Kings a 126-125 victory. The Jazz were close to sending those same fans home disappointed.
Lauri Markkanen scored 36 points in the defeat, but he is questionable for Saturday’s game due to a bruised left hand from a hard fall in the Portland Trail Blazers’ loss on Wednesday.
Simone Fontecchio scored a career-high 26 points thanks to his absence from Friday’s loss to the Bucks.
Collin Sexton (strained left hamstring) and Jordan Clarkson (sprained left ring finger) both missed the first game of the back-to-back.
Markkanen appears to be most likely to face the Kings out of the three. Even though an X-ray came back negative, Jazz coach Will Hardy is aware that his star player is suffering.
Two defeats have followed for the Jazz. On Monday, they return to their home arena to play the Suns, another team in the thick of the Western Conference race.
