NBA Preview from The Sports Network
Friday, February 6th (All times eastern)
Utah Jazz (28-22) at Sacramento Kings (11-39), 10:00 p.m.
(Sports Network) - The struggling Sacramento Kings hope to bounce back from one of their worst losses of the season when they welcome the Utah Jazz to ARCO Arena on a night they will celebrate one of the franchise's best players.
The Kings, who lost for the ninth time in 10 games Monday in Phoenix, will retire the jersey of former five-time All-Star Chris Webber.
Webber is best known for leading Sacramento to the 2001-02 Western Conference Finals, where the team came up just short against the Los Angeles Lakers thanks to a perfect storm of shaky officiating and erratic free-throw shooting.
Long gone are the glory days in Sacramento now. Amare Stoudemire led a balanced Suns attack with 25 points and eight rebounds as Phoenix set a US Airways Center record for largest winning margin with Monday's 129-81 blowout of the Kings.
Jason Richardson scored 16 of his 24 points in the opening quarter for the Suns, who led by as many as 50 on the way to breaking a two-game skid.
John Salmons had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Kings, who fell to a miserable 3-23 on the road and lost to Phoenix for a sixth consecutive time.
Sacramento did defeat Oklahoma City in overtime last Sunday in its most recent home game and will be shooting for consecutive home victories for the first time since opening the season with three straight victories at ARCO Arena.
The Jazz, meanwhile, finished a quick two-game homestand in perfect fashion on Thursday, when Deron Williams scored 34 points and dished out 12 assists as Utah hammered the Dallas Mavericks, 115-87, at EnergySolutions Arena.
Kyle Korver had a season-high 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds for Utah, which won back-to-back games for the first time since a four-game surge from January 5-12.
Ronnie Brewer scored 17 points and Mehmet Okur logged 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Jazz. Paul Millsap chipped in 14 points and had 10 boards in the win.
The Jazz, who continue to play without star forwards Andrei Kirilenko (right ankle surgery) and Carlos Boozer (left knee surgery), are an impressive 20-6 in Salt Lake City this year and just 8-16 on the road.
Tonight's contest is the first of two in a row away from Salt Lake City for Utah. They will also visit Golden State on Sunday before returning to the friendly confines of EnergySolutiona Arena for five straight games.
The Jazz have already topped the Kings twice this season, including a 99-94 win in Sacramento on December 2. Overall, Utah has lost eight of its last 11 trips to the California capital, however.
The Kings are 8-16 at ARCO Arena this season.
02/06 10:33:04 ET