Sacramento 117, Utah 107

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 4 (AP) -- John Salmons took over the scoring load after Sacramento leading scorer Kevin Martin went down with an injury, scoring 13 straight points for the Kings in one stretch of a 117-107 victory over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.

Martin scored 25 points before leaving the game in the final minute of the third quarter with a pulled groin. That's when Salmons went on his scoring spree, making three baskets and all seven free throws to keep the Kings in the game. Salmons' steal and reverse dunk gave the Kings a 98-96 lead with 4:10 remaining and Sacramento never trailed after that.

Salmons finished with 21 points and Ron Artest scored eight of his 23 in the fourth quarter to help Sacramento improve to 3-1 on its five-game homestand, with wins over San Antonio, Houston and now Utah.

Francisco Garcia hit a pair of big 3-pointers in the final 2 minutes for the Kings, who made 11 of 14 shots in the fourth quarter.

Deron Williams scored 30 points and Carlos Boozer added 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Jazz. Ronnie Brewer added 18 points.

Salmons was the only Kings player to make a basket in a span of more than 7 1/2 minutes after Martin's injury. But he got plenty of help once the game went down the stretch. Artest's driving left-handed layup gave the Kings a 100-98 lead and Garcia's 3-pointer made it 107-101 with 1:49 to go.

Garcia hit another from long range to make it 113-105 with 19.5 seconds to go, and the Kings put away the game at the foul line. Sacramento made 36 of 47 foul shots on the night compared to 18 of 22 for Utah.

The Kings went scoreless for nearly 5 minutes in the third quarter, missing all seven shots and turning the ball over three times during the drought. Andrei Kirilenko's block of Martin's layup attempt on a fast break highlighted the defensive stretch for the Jazz.

But Utah managed just eight points in the span and only led 68-61 lead before Martin ended the scoreless stretch with a jumper with 4:59 remaining in the third. Brewer's buzzer-beating jumper gave the Jazz a 77-74 lead after three.

The Jazz went on a 10-0 run early in the first quarter to take an eight-point lead. But every time Utah started to pull away in the opening half, the Kings quickly fought back.

After going nearly four minutes without a field goal, Sacramento got a pair of dunks by Mikki Moore off nice passes from Artest in the final minute of the half to but Utah's lead to 56-53 at the break.

Notes: Boozer has 14 double-doubles in 18 games this season. ... Sacramento C Brad Miller hit a 3-pointer in the second quarter, just his second in 13 attempts this season. ... Utah finishes its three-game road trip with back-to-back games against San Antonio and Dallas on Friday and Saturday nights.