The Kings have a chance to start a winning streak for the first time since early November when they play host to the Utah Jazz on Sunday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
The Kings (11-13) are coming off a 140-113 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, their highest-scoring game of the season. They haven’t won back-to-back games since beating the Miami Heat on Nov. 4 and Toronto Raptors on Nov. 6.
Sacramento is 12th in the Western Conference, three games behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 6 seed and 1 ½ games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the final play-in spot.
The Jazz (5-17) is coming off a 141-99 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Utah is 14th in the West. Lauri Markkanen (low back injury management) and Kyle Filipowski (left lower leg injury management) are questionable for Sunday’s game. Jordan Clarkson (left plantar fasciitis) and Taylor Hendricks (right fibula fracture) are out. Colin Sexton, who is dealing with a left finger avulsion fracture, will be available.
Here are three things to watch in Sunday’s game.
Sacramento’s 3-point shooting
The Kings have been one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the league this season. They are currently 24th in the NBA at 33.8%, but over the past six games they are 12th at 36.7%.
Malik Monk, who recently moved into the starting lineup, has been the driving force behind Sacramento’s improvement. Over the past six games, he shot 49.1% from 3-point range while averaging 9.2 attempts per game.
During that same stretch, Domantas Sabonis is shooting 46.2% on 2.2 attempts and Keon Ellis is shooting 37.5% on 3.2 attempts. Over the past three games, Kevin Huerter is shooting 41.2% on 5.7 attempts and Keegan Murray is shooting 36.8% on 4.8 attempts.
Past performances
The Kings were essentially at full strength when they beat the Jazz 113-96 on Oct. 29 in Salt Lake City. Domantas Sabonis scored 28 points on 13-of-18 shooting with 11 rebounds and four assists. DeMar DeRozan scored 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting with eight assists.
DeRozan and Sabonis were out when the Kings beat the Jazz 121-117 on Nov. 16 in Sacramento. De’Aaron Fox put up 49 points and nine assists, just 24 hours after scoring a franchise-record 60 points in an overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Scouting Utah
The Jazz scored a season-high 141 points in Friday’s win over the Blazers despite the absences of Markkanen and Clarkson.
Nine players scored in double figures for Utah. Johny Juzang came off the bench to score 22 points, going 6 of 11 from 3-point range. John Collins had 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Keyonte George added 17 points while Walker Kessler posted 13 points, 17 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Jazz at Kings
When: 6 p.m.
Where: Golden 1 Center
TV: NBC Sports California
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140
Odds: Kings -11.5
Over/under: 230.5
Injury report
Jazz: QUESTIONABLE — Kyle Filipowski (leg); Lauri Markkanen (back). OUT — Jordan Clarkson (foot); Taylor Hendricks (leg); David Jones Garcia (G League); Oscar Tshiebwe (G League); Cody Williams (G League).
Kings: OUT — Devin Carter (shoulder); Trey Lyles (calf).