It was another embarrassing showing for the Sacramento Kings, as they suffered a 121-93 blowout road loss to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.
With Keegan Murray (ankle), Domantas Sabonis (back), Zach LaVine (finger), Malik Monk (illness), De’Andre Hunter (eye), and Russell Westbrook (ankle) all sidelined, second-year guard Devin Carter got the first start of his NBA career.
He had a career-high 19 points while going 10/12 from the free throw line, but just 4/13 from the field. Yet, the Kings never had much of a chance as an early 30-9 run from the Jazz was enough for them to hold onto a convincing lead for the remainder of the action.
It extends Sacramento’s losing skid to 14 straight as they’ll head into a much-needed All-Star break, as they’ll have no representation in Los Angeles.
Sacramento Kings @ Utah Jazz Game Notes
Starting the game by going back and forth and aggressively attacking the basket, Sacramento narrowly trailed 10-12 by halfway through the opening frame despite shooting just 4/13 from the field.
Unfortunately, their percentage continued to decline thereafter. As has often been the case post-trade deadline, Sacramento head coach leaned into playing his youth.
One of their first quarter lineups featured Isaiah Stevens, Daeqwon Plowden, Nique Clifford, Maxime Raynaud, and Dylan Cardwell. Three of those players started the season on two-way contracts, and the others are still rookies — that spoke to the state of their roster.
That’s when the Jazz began to splash countless triples from the likes of Jaren Jackson Jr, Lauri Markannen, and Brice Sensabaugh en route to a 30-8 run. Utah built a 20+ point lead from that moment and never looked back.
Isaiah Collier continued his typical playmaking, stacking up seven assists in just eight minutes of action. Most of the Jazz buckets came off assists, while the Kings couldn’t buy a bucket outside of the occasional free throws from Carter or self-created DeMar DeRozan looks.
Ending the first with a Plowden putback followed by a DeRozan triple, the Kings trailed 39-20 while shooting just 7/29 from the field compared to Utah’s 15/24.
Sharpshooter Doug McDermott made his first appearance in the second quarter, knocking down a triple soon after. Seeming like momentum could start to build in their favor, it was quickly halted by more threes from the home squad.
Jackson Jr. continued to up his tally, as did Markannen. Carter was aggressive in attacking the basket, using his opportunity to show his ability to get to the free-throw line.
put ’em in a spin cycle 🌀
Drive of the Game presented by @LesSchwab pic.twitter.com/3CrM192jSC
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) February 12, 2026
The Kings had more made free throws (8) than field goals (7) in the second quarter, with Carter and Precious Achiuwa being the only Sacramento players to convert multiple buckets in the frame.
Playing similarly to the first, the Kings converted just 29.2 percent of their shots before halftime, trailing 71-44. Meanwhile, the Jazz were 10/20 from beyond the arc as Jackson Jr. led both sides with 18 points on 6/8 from the field.
Carter had 13 points, three rebounds, and one assist, while DeRozan added 12 of his own. Clifford had yet to convert from the field on nine attempts, but that changed moments into the third quarter with a tough and-one finish.
Of course, the Jazz responded by hitting yet another triple. DeRozan responded with one of his own before Collier matched him on the other end.
Trailing by upwards of thirty points a few minutes into the third quarter, a short 9-0 run from the Kings brought the score to 85-59 — still not exactly within reach.
Shooting just 33 percent in the third quarter, the Kings faced a 100-66 deficit as they head into the fourth quarter.
As they’ve done for the last handful of games, none of the Jazz starters saw the floor in the fourth quarter, but it didn’t matter given the extensive lead they’d already built up by that point.
McDermott reminded anyone who stuck around in the Delta Center of his ability to knock down the long ball, even mixing in a rare dunk from the 34-year-old.
After a few more conversions from him, strong drives from Carter, and a few finishes around the basket from Raynaud and Cardwell, the night ended in a 121-93 loss.
DeRozan ended the night with a team-high 20 points on 7/19 shooting, while Carter recorded a career-high 19 points.
It extends Sacramento’s losing skid to 14 straight as they’ll head into a much-needed All-Star break, as they’ll have no representation in Los Angeles.
More Sacramento Kings content from Sactown Sports
Upcoming Sacramento Kings schedule for the 2025-26 season
Wednesday, February 11th – @ Utah Jazz – 6:00 PM PT
Thursday, February 19th vs. Orlando Magic – 7:00 PM PT
Saturday, February 21st @ San Antonio Spurs – 5:00 PM PT
Monday, February 23rd @ Memphis Grizzlies – 5:00 PM PT
Wednesday, February 25th – @ Houston Rockets – 5:00 PM PT
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