Utah Jazz (16-13) @ Sacramento Kings (20-8) When: Sunday 28 December, 7:00PM (ET) Where: Arco Arena TV- Local: KJZZ, News10 National: NBALP Key Stats Utah road record: 4-10 Sacramento home record: 15-2 Standings: Jazz 7th Western Conference (.552), Kings 3rd Western Conference (.714) Note: Kings have better record than second place Spurs but because of division are 3rd. Probable Starters Jazz/Kings PG: Carlos Arroyo/ Mike Bibby SG: Deshawn Stevenson/ Doug Christie SF: Matt Harpring/ Peja Stojakovic PF: Andrei Kirilenko/ Brad Miller C: Greg Ostertag/ Vlade Divac Coach: Jerry Sloan/ Rick Adelman Key Bench Players Jazz: Raul Lopez, Raja Bell, Jarron Collins Kings: Bobby Jackson, Gerald Wallace, Darius Songaila Injuries Jazz: Curtis Borchardt (out), Michael Ruffin (out), Keon Clark (out) Kings: Chris Webber (out) Keys to the Game Jazz 1. Clutch. If the game gets to this stage, Utah can't do stupid things in the clutch like the last game. 2. Fouls. Vlade Divac will gets offensive fouls for Utah's Center in any way possible, Utah can't let this happen 3. Bench. Raja Bell was huge off the bench in the last game and Utah wouldn't of won w/o him. The bench players need to step up to win this one. Kings 1. Andrei Kirilenko. He is the most important player in the Jazz, and needs to be stopped. His versatility will make this hard to do. 2. Play to the finish. The Kings may find themselves ahead by a lot in the 3rd/4th quarter. Utah can come back and make it a close game and have done it before. 3. Shooting. Utah are better at defense than offense, so if Sacramento are open for 3, take it. A high scoring game from the Kings should win it. Key matchup: Brad Miller vs. Andrei Kirilenko Prediction: Kings by 10. Utah put up a good fight, but never look like winning and Kings win easily enough.
I think the Kings will win. Even though I would LOVE to see the Jazz beat the Kings in Sacramento but that seems almost impossible. By the way, Ostertag is hurt and may not play tonight. That would suck considering the Jazz' other centers are nothing but oh well.
Personally I think the Kings will win in a blowout. I hate to say this, but I am getting that feeling. Utah dpesn't really play well on the road and they are going up against a power house in Sacramento. If Ostertag is out, the game will never be close. The key for Utah would have to be containing Stojakovic and also not letting the Kings hit the open threes. The key for Sacramento is to try to stop Kirilenko. Like said before he is very versatile and will be extremely hard to guard. Look for alot of blcoked shots in this game from both teams. Prediction: Sacramento by 16
Remember when the Jazz contained Stojakovic in the first half of the last meeting to 0 points then ended up getting like 24 in the game? He's feakin hard to contain the whole game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">-- Peja Stojakovic added some much-need offense to an otherwise ugly game. Stojakovic scored 20 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Sacramento Kings catch fire down the stretch en route to a 98-89 victory over the Utah Jazz. Both teams were struggling to make baskets in a game that featured 62 fouls and 72 free throws, but Stojakovic found a way -- as he has all season. He made 5-of-7 shots from the floor, including 3-of-4 3-pointers, and 7-of-7 free throws in the final 12 minutes. "I think this team has a lot of capable guys to do that," Stojakovic said. "I just got hot in the fourth quarter. I don't know why they didn't go in the first three quarters. When you are a shooter, you just have to keep shooting and hopefully, the shots are going to fall in." "Peja really got the streak going in the fourth quarter, which really saved us," Kings coach Rick Adelman added. "Guys stayed with it and Peja got it going -- that's the bottom line." Utah failed to slow Stojakovic, no matter who defended him. </div> recap box score
Andrei was right, another 10 FT's and Utah would've won. Utah shot 17-31 from the line. 54.8%, horrible. They are shots you need to make to win games, and if Utah had made more it would've changed the whole game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting tmac15:</div><div class="quote_post">Andrei was right, another 10 FT's and Utah would've won. Utah shot 17-31 from the line. 54.8%, horrible. They are shots you need to make to win games, and if Utah had made more it would've changed the whole game.</div>Exactly. To beat the best, you must do all the little things to win.
