Jazz's win streak halted at 10

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Feb 9, 2008 | by Tim Buckley Deseret Morning News

SACRAMENTO -- The Jazz came here to Sacramento with a two-game lead over Denver in the NBA's Northwest Division, but treasuring the value of each and every outing.

"I think everybody can see it's a pretty tough division we're in, and we've got to win every night that we step on the floor," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said recently. "We can't look for allowing ourselves the luxury of a couple of losses, because you're out of it with two losses."

"Whatever the game is, whoever the opponent is, we've just got to win," shooting guard Kyle Korver added after a victory at Denver last Wednesday that pushed Utah's string of consecutive victories then to double digits. "There's just no room for error. There really isn't. Two- or three-game losing streak, and you lose four or five spots in the standings. So more so than concentrating on how many games can we get in this streak, we've just got to win every one to stay where we're at."

Too bad for the Jazz they did not heed their own advice Friday night, especially when things started to unravel in the fourth quarter of an eventual 117-104 loss to the Kings.

Because they did not, the NBA's longest current win streak -- and the longest for the Jazz since they won 11 in a row in April of 1999 -- comes to a close at 10.

Utah's run of five straight road victories also was snapped, leaving only their 11-game home win streak alive heading into tonight's game at EnergySolutions Arena against the Chicago Bulls.

"I don't think they're very happy about losing," Sloan said after the Jazz fell to 32-19, losing for the first time since Jan. 17 at Denver. "You know, we'd won 10 games in a row -- and you're not gonna be on top of your game every night.

"They outplayed us," Sloan added, "and you go home and try to regroup and get ready to play again tomorrow. That's all I know."

Sloan also had a pretty good idea of how things fell apart for the Jazz in the fourth, when they went from one point down entering the quarter to 10 behind with five minutes and 10 seconds remaining and as many as 17 down after a Ron Artest jumper with 2:45 to go.

"They just came after us, and I thought they played a great game," Sloan said. "They did a great job of pushing the ball up, executing their offense, getting good shots. They put a lot of pressure on us we couldn't seem to deal with."

Everything, in other words, the Jazz did not do.

The decisive pull-away stretch for Sacramento came when the Kings, up by two at 101-99 with 6:48 left, went on an 8-0 tear.

With star Mike Bibby and 27-point game-high scorer Kevin Martin not even in the game at the time, subs John Salmons and Quincy Douby did much of the damage.

Salmons drove for a layup, and Douby hit two 3-pointers during the run. During the same stretch, Korver missed a trey try for the Jazz, Deron Williams dished an errant pass, and Andrei Kirilenko did the same.

"They were playing so hard, whoever they had out there," Sloan said. "They were beating us down the floor. They were able to put the ball on the floor ad drive to the basket. We couldn't keep them in front of us.

"They used good patience, used their clock well, did a great job of either getting on top of the basket or getting to the free-throw line."

Particularly frustrating for Sloan was that the Kings attempted 50 free throws, making 40.

"It didn't help, but that's life in the NBA," he said. "Which is always kind of amazing to me. We scored 40 points in the paint to their 36. They shot 50 free throws; we shot 23. That's always a little hard to understand at times."

NOTES: Jazz backup power forward Paul Millsap returned to the game after taking eight stitches to close a cut in his left eyebrow, sustained while fouling ex-Jazz big man Mikki Moore of the Kings ... Moore finished with seven points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes ... . Both Sloan and Jazz center Mehmet Okur picked up technical fouls Friday. Sloan's came after he jumped out of his seat to complain to referee Derek Richardson, who T'd him up right away. It was just the second tech of the season for Sloan. Okur's was his team-high third ... Kings swingman Francisco Garcia did not return after getting accidentally kneed in the back near the end of the first half by his ex-teammate, Jazz guard Ronnie Price ... Price had 11 points with 4-of-5 field shooting, including 2-of-2 from 3-point range, against his old club ... Center Brad Miller returned for Sacramento after missing the Kings' last game due to a right-finger laceration that he said was sustained in a knife accident while helping with the dishes. Miller started and finished with 15 points in 33 minutes.

E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com