Kings Lose To Jazz In Overtime

The Sacramento Kings couldn’t hold on in overtime, as they lost to the Utah Jazz 91-98.

The Kings played the best the have played on the road in several weeks. The Kings trailed by only one-point at halftime, and despite losing DeMarcus Cousins because due to a stupid technical foul, the Kings showed resilience and built a three-point lead going into the fourth quarter,where they managed to hang on, tying the game in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.

Paul Millsap

Sacramento couldn’t hold on in overtime as they clearly ran out of gas, and were noticeably tired. Utah out-scored the Kings 14-7 in the overtime period, as Utah almost seemed to find renewed life in the final extra period.

Tyreke Evans and Jason Thompson had very solid games, combining for 43 points. Thompson led the game in scoring with 23 points, and he also grabbed 10 rebounds, recording a double-double. Evans had 20 points, and almost led the Kings back as he scored six points in final three minutes of the fourth quarter.

The Kings had only 13 turnovers to Utah’s 22, but only managed 13 assists to Utah’s 25. Sacramento hasn’t seemed to grasp the idea of playing as a team, and constant ball movement. Granted, they’re a young team with several players who are capable of taking defenders off the dribble and scoring the ball, but not everything has meshed quite yet.

The Kings have shown that when they are pressured or when the passing lanes are pressed, they have a tendency to stop passing the ball. They’ve also shown that they are capable of playing defense, passing the ball, and scoring but have yet to put it all together. But, if the Kings want to have a chance at winning games and being considered a good team in the West, they need to learn to play together.

The Utah Jazz had six players in double-digit scoring, and shot 52.8 percent from the field. The Jazz shot the ball very well from three-point range, nailing 7-of-12 shots on their way to a 58.3 percent mark. In retrospect, the Kings only shot 15 percent from three-point range.

Cousins didn’t make things easy for his teammates after being ejected when he simply couldn’t let go of what he felt was a poor call. Cousins could be seen mouthing profanities towards referee Tre Maddox as his teammates attempted to get him off the floor. Referee Scott Foster wasted no time hitting Cousins with his second technical foul, resulting in an automatic ejection.

After tonight’s game, Cousins leads the league with 12 technical fouls, only four away from the league’s 16 technical limit. If Cousins reaches 16, he will be suspended for one game and also be fined $5,000.

At his current rate, the real question is can Cousins ever learn to keep his mouth shut? However, one question still lingers around Cousins. Why can’t anyone get the point across? Have you ever seen a foul call overturned in the NBA? Once the official makes the call, its done, no one can change it; and a call is very rarely overturned. Cousins has at times shown signs of growth, and maturation, but he may never grow out of his bad habit of talking to officials, and trying to argue calls.