SACRAMENTO — The Utah Jazz went 0-3 on their post-Christmas road trip after losing a down-to-the-wire game against the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.
Despite Lauri Markkanen’s game-high 36 points, the Kings held on to win, 126-125.
Here are three keys that contributed to the Jazz’s loss:
- The Jazz had another rough night from 3-point land, shooting just 25% from deep. The Jazz’s offense was generating a ton of good looks, especially for Marrkkanen and Malik Beasley, but the two combined to go just 2 of 14 from 3.
- Mike Conley and Kelly Olynyk were two of the Jazz’s best players on both ends of the court on Friday night, but foul trouble cut the time they were able to play in the fourth quarter and forced the Jazz to play some smaller and less experienced lineups in clutch minutes.
- While the Jazz were missing shots, the Kings were hitting, and hitting at the right moments. Kevin Huerter went 6 of 10 from deep and had some timely makes with 15 points in the fourth quarter, and De’Aaron Fox also had 11 points in the final 12 minutes.