• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Kings beat reeling Jazz

Apr 4, 2011 - 2:59 AM Sacramento, CA (Sports Network) - Tyreke Evans had 24 points and 10 assists to help the Sacramento Kings take a 106-97 win over the Utah Jazz.

DeMarcus Cousins had 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists while Francisco Garcia also had 17 points for the Kings, who snapped a two-game slide.

"Well I thought that was a good solid performance by us," said Sacramento head coach Paul Westphal. "We sputtered a little bit, maybe the last six minutes of the first half, but other than that, for the most part, we kept good energy on both ends, we shared the ball, attacked, and it was a professional win."

Paul Millsap had 21 points while Gordon Hayward added a career-high 19 points for the Jazz, who have lost their past eight games.

It's Utah's longest losing streak since dropping nine straight from March 4-19, 2005.

"I don't think overall it's what we expected," said Utah head coach Tyrone Corbin. "This team is struggling a little bit. We thought we'd come out with a good effort at the beginning of the ballgame especially put more pressure on them. We let them get their confidence going and they had a pretty good game as a result."

The Kings trailed for much of the first quarter, but a 9-0 run later in the frame helped the team take a 26-19 lead into the second.

Sacramento extended its lead to 20 points when Marcus Thornton's free throw made it a 41-21 game with under eight minutes to play, but Utah used a 15-4 run later in the frame to cut its deficit to 10 at the break, 50-40.

Utah made it a five-point game with 8 1/2 minutes to play in the third, but Evans countered with a three-ball and two free throws from Cousins got the lead back to 10.

The Kings kept the score in double digits for much of the remainder of the third, but Derrick Favors hit a jumper and Earl Watson closed out the scoring in the frame with a three to make it an 81-72 game heading into the final period.

Utah never got closer than nine in the final quarter.

Game Notes

Sacramento plays at Houston on Tuesday...Utah plays at the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday...The Jazz had won the previous three matchups in the season series.