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Kings vs. Jazz Preview: Let’s Direct Some Jazz

After beating the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday evening, the Kings should have an easy time against the Utah Jazz, right?
By | 10 Comments | Apr 28, 2021

Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

As the Sacramento Kings come off of a short-handed win against Luka Doncic and they playoff-bound Dallas Mavericks, they’ve been granted a slight reprieve by taking on the best team in the NBA, the Utah Jazz.

Headed into the 2020 season, very few would have predicted Utah to dominate at such high level, but their combination of elite rim protection, team-centric defense, and a couple of All-Star guards has led them to the best record in the NBA. In fact, their win percentage (72.1%) is slightly better than De’Aaron Fox’s free throw percentage (71.9%).

When: Tuesday, April 28th, 7:00 PM PST

Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA

TV: NBCSCA

RadioKHTK Sports 1140 AM

For Your Consideration:

The Sacramento Kings are pretty good at offense, ranking 9th in the league in scoring, and the Sacramento Kings are awful at defense, ranking 30th in points allowed per game. The Utah Jazz are elite at putting the ball in the bucket, placing third in the league in points per game, and the Utah Jazz are elite at preventing the ball from going in the bucket, ranking fourth in point surrendered. This may get quite ugly, quite quickly.

If the Kings do want to win this game, they’ll need to accomplish two things: stop and start lane penetration. Behind the aggressive play of Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley, and Jordan Clarkson, a trifecta of guards averaging over 60 combined points per game, the Jazz average the fifth-highest number of drives in the league, and those dives to the hoop often lead to an easy buck for their bigs. Utah currently places in the 93rd percentile in pick-and-roll efficiency in the league, averaging 1.22 points per possession in that situation. If Sacramento can’t stop the ball at the point of attack, their bigs are going to get eaten alive in the lane.

On the other end of the court, the Kings must find a way to score effectively in the paint, an already difficult task greatly compounded by the absence of De’Aaron Fox. Rudy Gobert, who is currently reducing his opponents’ average field goal percentage at the rim by 13.9%, must be taken out of the equation, either by running him through screening situations or by forcing him into foul trouble through mismatches, as his presence will prevent any effective lane penetration by Sacramento’s guards.

Prediction: 

Vivek Ranadive finally finds his Jazz Director in Kyle Guy, who scores a career-high 33 points. Kings win 129 – 127.

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Jman1949
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April 28, 2021 12:32 pm

Mitchell’s ankle is hurt; that’s too bad.
Utah’s lost some cushion they had.
In this game with the Jazz,
Any chance our team has
Goes away if we make Ingles mad!

RobHessing
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April 28, 2021 12:43 pm

Kings. Jazz.comment image
Next.

Kingsguru21
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April 28, 2021 6:15 pm
Reply to  RobHessing

A Clerks reference!

andy_sims
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April 28, 2021 1:43 pm

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TerzoM
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April 28, 2021 2:12 pm

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Jman1949
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April 28, 2021 2:20 pm
Reply to  TerzoM

comment image&ct=g

andy_sims
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April 28, 2021 2:43 pm
Reply to  Jman1949

Such a great movie, and surprisingly on point in regard to the process of getting to trial. Plus Marisa Tomei.

HongKongKingsFan
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April 28, 2021 5:38 pm

As Barnes is out..maybe we should start Metu ?

PG: Tyrese / Wright
SG: Hield / Ramsey
SF: Harkless / Davis
PF: Metu
C: Holmes/ Jones

TheBaker
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April 28, 2021 6:37 pm

Kyle Guy will turn 33 before he scores 33.

L-Train3.1
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April 28, 2021 9:29 pm

I got this recap….. The Kangz lost by 49 points, worst home loss ever. There is no hope, we will never make the playoffs again, we suck.

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