Jazz hope to continue upward trend vs. Kings (Mar 29, 2017)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A little bit of rhythm from Rodney Hood has the Utah Jazz playing more spirited tunes than they were over the weekend.
Getting back to the playoffs for the first time in five seasons will do that, too.
So would the return of their leading scorer.
Forward Gordon Hayward and his 21.3 points per game are questionable for Utah's game Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. That's about the only downer news since the team cleared the air Monday after controversial comments by center Rudy Gobert about the inconsistency in effort from some of his teammates.
Gobert beat the Kings 110-109 in overtime earlier this month with a last-second tip-in in Utah's only other visit to Sacramento this season. That loss only momentarily slowed Utah's climb from a 25-win team in 2013-14 into a playoff team for the first time since 2011-12.
The Jazz (45-29) didn't need Tuesday's 108-100 home victory over the New Orleans Pelicans to complete that part of the ascent -- that happened when Denver lost to New Orleans on Sunday -- but it showcased some of the reasons why they aspire to bigger things.
Rodney Hood scored 20 points, and his legs seemed as fresh and healthy as they've been all season in just his fourth game back after experiencing right knee soreness. Hood also has missed time with a right hamstring strain, a right knee hyperextension and a bone bruise to the right knee. He shot 7-for-16 against New Orleans.
"It's hard to play and then not play, especially if you're a player that needs rhythm -- a shooter, a scorer," Utah coach Quin Snyder told the Salt Lake Tribune. "It takes you a while to get yourself back in a groove."
The Jazz might argue that they're not grooving yet. The win over New Orleans marked only their second in six games following a 20-9 stretch that catapulted them to the top half of the Western Conference. Utah leads the Los Angeles Clippers by 1 1/2 games in the quest for the fourth playoff slot and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Such aspirations seem a long way off for the Kings (29-45), who nonetheless can take inspiration in a future sense from Utah's fast rise and in an immediate sense from two straight last-second victories.
"Winning helps everybody," Sacramento second-year center Willie Cauley-Stein said. "It's not just the young dudes; it's the old dudes, too, because losing gets old."
The Kings stopped their losing ways by outscoring the Clippers 22-3 in the final 5:38 of a 98-97 victory on Sunday. A night later, guard Darren Collison sank two free throws with 5.7 seconds remaining for a 91-90 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
The latter victory also was significant in that the Kings rallied after squandering an 85-78 lead late in the final quarter.
"We're really locked in on defense," Cauley-Stein said. "I think we're starting to trust each other, that we're going to be in those spots to help each other, and it's starting to show a little bit. So it's only going to get better the more and more we keep on playing together."
How that will manifest over the summer remains under watch, as does the team's front office. The Kings issued a statement to two media outlets Monday that it won't hire former Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie, reportedly the target of Kings owner Vivek Ranadive.
For now, the organization also continues to say publicly that it has no plans to hire anybody above general manager Vlade Divac.
