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Jazz beat Kings, finish 8-0 in preseason

Oct 23, 2010 - 4:17 AM SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Utah Jazz completed the first undefeated preseason in franchise history, beating the Sacramento Kings 82-71 on Friday night.

Al Jefferson, Raja Bell and Kyrylo Fesenko scored 12 points for Utah (8-0), which played without starting point guard Deron Williams (personal reasons).

"We understand it's the preseason, and we don't get cocky about it," forward Andrei Kirilenko said. "But I like that everybody kind of takes it serious and works in the games."

Beno Udrih scored a preseason-high 17 points and Carl Landry added 13 off the bench for Sacramento (3-4), which finished the preseason 1-3 on the road.

Kings rookie center DeMarcus Cousins missed his first six shots and finished 1 for 7 for four points. Tyreke Evans, last season's Rookie of the Year, was held to seven points on 3-of-9 shooting. Sacramento shot 36 percent from the field and committed 21 turnovers.

"Tyreke needs to break out of his little shooting issues, among other guys," said Kings coach Paul Westphal, whose team shot below 40 percent for the fourth time in the preseason.

"I don't like to see a 3 in front of our shooting numbers every night. We have a lot of guys shooting below their normal percentage. It certainly has to come up in order to let your defense have a chance to help you get some wins."

Utah, held to fewer than 100 points for the third consecutive game, opened the second half with an 11-4 run to push a four-point halftime lead to 55-44. Sacramento got no closer than four points the rest of the game.

"Now we've got to start playing for real," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said, downplaying the undefeated mark. "The games don't count for anything other than trying to get better at what you're doing, and that's what we look forward to have happen.

"Hopefully we can play a little bit better than we have the past couple of days."

Jefferson scored eight points in the third quarter for Utah, which outscored the Kings 40-22 in the paint.

The Jazz lost guard C.J. Miles to a right ankle injury midway through the second quarter. He did not return.

Notes: Utah twice finished 7-1 in the preseason (2003-04 and 1994-95). Both teams open the regular season on the road Wednesday. Sacramento is at Minnesota, and Utah is in Denver.