NBA News Wire
Kings 101, Jazz 92
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Forward Rudy Gay scored 29 points and made two key baskets in the final six minutes to help the Sacramento Kings hold off the Utah Jazz for a 101-92 win at Sleep Train Arena on Monday.
Rookie guard Nik Stauskas scored a career-high 15 points and converted a 3-point play on a layup and foul shot to highlight a 9-2 run late. Gay hit two jumpers to stem a Utah run for Sacramento, and the Kings won for just the second time in seven contests.
Sacramento (11-10) has not dropped below .500 this season.
Forward Gordon Hayward had 19 points for Utah, but only seven after the first quarter. Hayward made five of his first seven shots, then missed eight straight from the second quarter until late in the fourth.
Guard Alex Burkes scored 16 points and guard Trey Burke had 13, and the Jazz (5-16) lost their ninth straight.
The Kings once again played without center DeMarcus Cousins, who missed his sixth straight game because of viral meningitis. The Kings are 2-4 without Cousins, who will not play in Tuesday night’s game against the Lakers at Los Angeles. They’ve won two of their past three without him after losing 16 straight over three seasons when he didn’t play.
Stauskas, the Kings’ first selection in last June’s draft, scored in double digits for the first time and knocked down six of 12 shots. He and guard Derrick Williams each made 3-pointers during a 12-0 Sacramento run early in the fourth quarter that turned its 70-68 deficit into an 80-70 lead.
Utah then scored the next seven points, but Gay knocked down a leaning 10-foot jumper, guard Darren Collison made a jumper from 20 feet, and Gay converted on a 16-footer from the wing on three straight possessions to build the lead back to 86-79.
Stauskas then converted the old-fashioned 3-pointer by driving the lane and scoring despite being fouled on the way.
Collison finished with 16 points and six assists for Sacramento, and forward Jason Thompson had nine points and nine rebounds.
Utah center Rudy Gobert had 12 points and nine rebounds, and center Enes Kanter added 10 points.
NOTES: By missing his sixth straight game, Sacramento Kings C DeMarcus Cousins matched the longest stretch of consecutive absences in his five-year career. Cousins, who leads the Kings in scoring (23.5 points), rebounding (12.6) and blocks (1.53), is expected to miss at least one more week with viral meningitis. … Utah F Derrick Favors entered the game fourth among NBA forwards in field-goal percentage (57.2 percent) and was averaging a career-high 16.3 points per game. … Kings G Darren Collison was on pace to set a career high in scoring (15.8 per game) and assists (6.3). He entered the game with back-to-back nights of at least 20 points, only the second time since his rookie year that he accomplished that, and only the fifth time overall in his six-year career. … Utah F/G Alec Brooks played despite tendinitis in his left shoulder. … Former Utah coach Tyrone Corbin, whose contract was not renewed by the Jazz after last season, is Sacramento’s lead assistant coach.
