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.
Tthe Kings will win in a blowout. Utah cant win on the road and they are going against Sacramento, in Arco Arena. The Kings have such a good record in this place so I cant see Utah doing anything here. Kings by 10+
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting big_time:</div><div class="quote_post">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> That's exactly what's happening now, he's hit 2 quick 3's in the fourth quarter and made it a lot harder. Peja is 3-9 right now from 3 right now with 5:48 in the 4th left. Sac 79 Utah 71, Utah were winning in the 4th qtr. Ostertag is playing.
Maybe if Harpring could maybe make a shot and quit fouling and turning over the ball, we would win Jazz lost 98-89. The game was alot closer than that score indiactes. Peja of course went off in the 2nd Half. Finishing with 37 points Harpring couldn't hit anything. He had a HORRIBLE game. (3-16) The Jazz couldn't hit a FT to save their lives. (17-31) Both teams played pretty poorly. AK had a pretty average game with 21 pts, 11rebs, 4blks, 4 steals, and 4 assists, but had 5 TOs. Look for highlights on ESPN. Kirilenko had an unbelievable block on Vlade Divac.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting BallerAK47:</div><div class="quote_post">Maybe if Harpring could maybe make a shot and quit fouling and turning over the ball, we would win</div> Your right there, 3-16 shooting with 5 fouls. Ouch. He did get 11 boards though. The Jazz lost 89-98 (1 off my prediction ). I think we need to give Ben Handlogten more minutes, Jarron Collins is not doing much with the minutes he's getting. Utah had a chance at winning towards the end, but the Kings were knocking down their 3's in the 4th quarter. The Jazz were up by 1 at the start of the 4th quarter, but got outscored 34-24 in the 4th quarter. If they play like that tomorrow, they should be able to beat Philly at home. The Kings shot 35-41 FT's, Peja got 37 points and 13 of them were FT's.
