Utah Jazz get back in win column by rolling over Sacramento Kings

SALT LAKE CITY — A large number of people who tried to watch the Utah Jazz game Saturday night against the Sacramento Kings on AT&T Sportsnet were unable to because, according to the team, an “equipment failure” had “prevented broadcast signals to reach our regional fans.”

Inside Vivint Arena, the Jazz had no such connectivity issues. Utah went on an early run to build a lead, scored 38 points in the first quarter and cruised to the 123-101 victory. The win got the Jazz back in the win column after they had faltered on Thursday against the New Orleans Pelicans, which snapped a 10-game win streak.

“Obviously we were happy to be on a win streak, but you know how the NBA is. Streaks end,” said Georges Niang, who scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting. “You can’t sulk about them. This isn’t college. You don’t drop in the rankings. You’ve just got to go out and win the next one, start a new streak.”

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On Saturday, the Jazz’s recipe for victory to open the second half of the regular season was much the same as it has been over the past month. Joe Ingles missed the team’s first shot attempt of the night 18 seconds in, but Utah didn’t miss again for almost eight minutes, as they made 12 straight shots over that span and opened up a 30-19 advantage until their next miss (also from Ingles).

By the end of the first quarter, the Jazz led 38-22, and that was after they struggled to make shots over the final few minutes of the frame. In that first 12 minutes, Utah shot 15-of-24 from the field, including 6-of-13 from behind the 3-point line. The Jazz tallied 10 assists on those 15 baskets and didn’t commit a single turnover.

Sure, a fair portion of Utah’s success early came as a shorthanded Kings team that has now lost four straight games appeared rather disinterested in playing defense, but it was another offensive performance from the Jazz that has become their standard since mid-December when they began a run that has seen them now win 16 of their last 18 games.

Utah finished the night having made nearly 51% of its shots and connected on a near-perfect 23 of 24 from the free-throw line. The Jazz also won the rebounding battle by 10. Bojan Bogdanovic led all scorers with 30 points (his ninth 30-point game of the season), but three of his teammates scored at least 20 in a game Utah led by as many as 27.

Even Ingles, who went just 1-of-7 from the field and missed all five of his 3-point attempts, found other ways to contribute in a big way, as he tallied 12 assists and nine rebounds.

“We’ve got a group that, they play for each other,” said head coach Quin Snyder. “When you do that, the basket gets bigger, everybody shoots the ball with confidence because they feel like they’re supposed to. There’s never a ‘my turn.’ It’s always ‘our turn.’”

Added Bogdanovic: “No matter who is scoring or who is shooting the ball, we are moving the ball. We had a couple possessions that we moved the ball from one side to the other and hit the 3. We are just feeling great about all of us in the locker room.”

As good as the Jazz’s offense was, its defense was solid, too, as Snyder’s group was able to limit in transition a Sacramento team that likes to run, and Rudy Gobert dominated his matchup with Marvin Bagley III, scoring 28 points on just 11 shots. The Frenchman also grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked three shots.

“Our defense really propels our offense,” Niang said. “When we can get out after getting stops, score in transition, get a team feeling kind of defeated if they can’t score and you’re hitting 3s, that’s huge for us. That’s how we win games.”