Salt Lake City, UT (Sports Network) - Rookie guard Tyreke Evans scored a
career-high 32 points and doled out seven assists to lead the Sacramento
Kings in a 104-99 victory over the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena.
The Kings were playing their first game without guard Kevin Martin, who
is set to have surgery Monday to repair a fractured left wrist. He's expected
to miss a minimum of eight weeks.
Beno Udrih added 15 points and Andres Nocioni 14 for the Kings, who have won
two of three and snapped a three-game road losing streak against the Jazz.
Jason Thompson ended with 12 points, 11 boards and five helpers, while Donte
Greene had 10 points in the win.
Deron Williams totaled 29 points and 15 helpers for the Jazz, who have dropped
three of four. Carlos Boozer boasted 16 points and 17 rebounds, while
Mehmet Okur also had 16 points. Wesley Matthews and Andrei Kirilenko scored 11
and 10, respectively.
Trailing by 15 points in the fourth, Ronnie Brewer hit a pair of free throws
and Williams added a layup to spark a 12-3 run. Another Williams' layup closed
it out with 1:31 showing to get within 95-89.
The teams traded baskets and eventually Williams nailed a three-pointer to
bring it to 99-95 with 17.5 ticks left.
The Kings were subsequently sent to the line and Utah could only get within
four points the rest of the way.
"It was a bad game for us, period," said Williams. "We had a 15-point lead in
the second quarter and then just let it slip away. Then the third quarter was
even worse."
The Jazz were on top 30-19 after the first quarter, but the Kings used a
strong second period to tie the game at 55 heading into the break.
Trailing by five points early in the third, Evans and Spencer Hawes offered
buckets to spark a 19-0 run that gave Sacramento a 74-60 lead with 5:09 left
in the stanza.
"I felt like I was unstoppable getting to the basket," said Evans. "I was just
taking advantage of everything that was out on the court."
The Kings kept pushing, eventually stretching the surge to a 26-2 run, and
were up 85-68 heading to the final 12 minutes.
