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SACRAMENTO- Sunday, the NBA admitted Jazz guard Rodney Hood was fouled on a late shot attempt against the Phoenix Suns.
It didn’t matter to the Jazz or Hood, as they were on the second game of a back-to-back with the Sacramento Kings. The Kings present one of the league’s toughest challenges in DeMarcus Cousins, a man big on everything- size, game, attitude, etc.
The Jazz and Kings were tied 49-49 at halftime, before Utah went on a second-half run to down Sacramento, 101-95.
With the win, the Jazz are now 35- 42- a guaranteed ten-game improvement over last season’s record, regardless of how the rest of the season finishes.
Utah hosts Sacramento in a game on Wednesday, in what should be a intriguing matchup with the tempers that were flared by the Kings Sunday.
There were a few points that stood out in the win over Sacramento.
As previously mentioned, the NBA admitted Hood was fouled on a final shot attempt in Phoenix on Saturday, as the Jazz fell to the Suns. Despite the frustration of the moment, Hood returned with a strong performance, scoring a career-high 25 points while going 9-of-17 from the field.
When healthy, Hood has consistently improved over the course of the season, and Sunday’s performance is another example of such. The next highest scorer for the Jazz was Derrick Favors, with 11 points.
There were several statistics in Utah’s win that leaned towards the Jazz, but no statistic was bigger than bench scoring. The Jazz bench outscored the Kings bench 42-21, with Jeremy Evans finished with ten points on the night. Every player off the Utah bench scored, except for Jack Cooley.
Trevor Booker finished with eight points and nine rebounds, and Joe Ingles hit a critical 3-pointer during an 11-2 fourth quarter run for the Jazz.
Utah played well and all, and several players contributed during a 25-22 Utah fourth quarter. However, it’s tough not to look at several statistics for Sacramento and not see flaws. For instance, the Kings made just 14-of-24 free throws- not the type of performance that is needed to win in the NBA.
