Utah Jazz cruise to easy victory over the Sacramento Kings

I don’t know what was grosser, the inner fluids of the Kings fan that ended up on the floor, or the state of the Sacramento Kings.

Whatever the case, the Utah Jazz cruised to an easy 123-105 victory.

For the Jazz, Donovan Mitchell continued his excellent season leading the way with 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. The Jazz also got a strong performance from Rudy Gobert who put up 21 points and 14 rebounds. It’s nights like tonight that show just how good the Jazz are. They have so many weapons that give them a variety of ways to win.

Last game Mike Conley only took 4 shots but tonight he came out hot from the gate. For the game, Conley had an insanely efficient night going 7/10 from the field and ³⁄₄ from three for 17 points. He also only had to play 26 minutes. That’s the perfect scenario for the Jazz from their all-star veteran guard.

Another promising sign for the Jazz was the play of Joe Ingles. After getting yelled at by Mitchell, Ingles has now strung together his best 6 quarters of the season. Tonight Ingles was 3/6 from 3 with 3 assists and 2 steals. That type of shooting is the thing the Jazz will need as the season progresses. The better Joe Ingles plays, the better it is for the Jazz.

We also need to give a ton of credit to Hassan Whiteside. Whiteside has been a huge success story through the first quarter of the season. His ability to protect the rim has melded seamlessly with the Jazz’s defense. His offensive game has also been a great fit. Whiteside has good hands and good enough touch around the rim that he finishes a lot of plays. He’s also huge. That size is hard for opposing defenses to handle and he batters their undersized backup bigs with regularity. As Rudy Gay continues his play for the Jazz, Jazz fans shouldn’t forget how good Whiteside has been. It’s been fantastic.

Speaking of Rudy Gay. Gay’s stat line tonight wasn’t as incredible as last game, but his impact was about the same. Gay is big and uses his size well on both ends of the floor. Whether it’s on defense, rebounding, or attacking smaller players on offense, Gay just makes the right play. That’s probably the biggest takeaway for me watching Rudy Gay these last two games is that Gay is just a good, smart player. He knows the right play and he makes it. And his physical tools constantly give him an advantage. What a great pickup for the Jazz.

We do have to mention the Kings. They’re an absolute mess, and I’m not talking about the fan throwing up on the court at the end of the game. They are getting booed by fans now with regularity and rightfully so. The thing is, I don’t know if you can expect more wins than what the Kings have with the current roster. They have solid NBA talent. At some point, the Kings need to make some sort of move to either get a new coach or trade some of their young players. They are the perfect team to make a Ben Simmons trade. What would they have to lose? Whatever they decide to do it needs to be somewhat dramatic because what is happening there is gross.