Little-used Darryl Watkins of the Sacramento Kings drove into the Jazz’s paint, scored on a six-foot hookshot and ran back on defense to contest Jazz forward Paul Millsap’s shot in the final seconds of Monday night’s game.
Too bad for Sacramento that the game was pretty much in the record books by the end of the first quarter. Utah left EnergySolutions Arena with a convincing 117-93 victory on Monday night to run its season record to 6-2.
The Utah Jazz used a 35-18 opening quarter to stifle a depleted Kings squad that never posed a real threat.
In perhaps the team’s most complete game of the young season, the Jazz received contributions from one end of the bench to the other as six players scored in double figures. Three more scored at least six points.
But Jazz coach Jerry Sloan wasn’t overly impressed.
“You’ve got to look at who we were playing tonight,” Sloan said. “They’ve got three of their best players who didn’t suit up tonight. They were shorthanded and I don’t think it’s anything to do cartwheels about.”
The Kings (2-5) sorely missed Ron Artest (suspension), Mike Bibby (torn thumb ligament) and Brad Miller (bruised quad).
Jazz guard Ronnie Brewer, however, is happy to collect the victories in any shape or form.
“A win is a win,” said Brewer, who finished with 13 points and three steals. “Even though they were short a couple of players, you never know — whoever comes down the court can upset you.”
Carlos Boozer anchored the NBA’s current top-scoring offense by bulldozing his way to the hoop for 32 points. The league’s seventh-best scorer boosted his average to 26.3 points per game and also hauled in 10 rebounds.
The NBA’s latest reincarnation of Oscar Robertson, Andrei Kirilenko, continued his near triple-double average for his third game in a row, this time with 15 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and three blocks.
“He’s doing so good, I can’t give him enough credit,” Boozer said of Kirilenko. “His presence is definitely being felt on the court. He’s everywhere.”
Deron Williams didn’t have his best showing of the season with six points and seven assists, but Sloan isn’t concerned.
“I think the bottom line is we won,” Sloan said. “We’d like for everybody to start the game off with 25 points and 15 assists and then start playing ball. I think that’d make for a great game.”
Utah held Sacramento to 93 points — the lowest total by an opponent this season — and kept the league’s second-ranked scorer, Kevin Martin, in check. Martin finished with 21 points, which is seven points below his average.
John Salmons added 22 points for the Kings and Francisco Garcia scored 19.
The Jazz will take their four-game winning streak to Toronto on Wednesday for a three-game road trip that concludes a back-to-back set in Cleveland and Indiana.
“Hopefully we can (keep the streak going) against them,” Boozer said. “We’re going to have to bring our defensive intensity, be ready to play and know we’ve got to play through some adversity. Hopefully we come out victorious.”
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Tyler CobbDeron Williams drives past Beno Udrih on Monday during the 117-93 win against Sacramento at EnergySolutions Arena.