By George Devine, Sr.

The Sacramento Kings played once more without DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay. Cousins had missed two previous matchups after spraining his left ankle. Gay, who had a strained left Achilles, warmed up but was removed from the starting lineup. Both have been leading scorers for the Kings — each averaging just over 20 points per game — but even without them, their teammates stepped up and came close at times in a 106-99 loss.

The Kings came into the contest closely matched to the win-loss record of the Utah Jazz. But after a close first period the Jazz began to take over, and a fourth-quarter rally could not pull the game out of the fire for the visitors who came up short, 106-99.

Jason Thompson led the scoring for Sacramento, with 19 points. He contributed 11 rebounds, 7 of them defensive, and 2 blocks. Derrick Williams had 17 points and 15 boards, again mostly defensive (13). Ben McLemore scored 14 points and had 9 rebounds.

For Utah, Marvin Williams and Enes Kanter each had 16 points. Williams also had 13 rebounds. Derrick Favors had 17 points and a dozen boards, and Jeremy Evans had 14 points with 10 rebounds.