Williams leads Jazz to preseason win over Kings

SACRAMENTO, Calif.(AP) Deron Williams had 19 points and 11 assists and Paul Milsap added 19 points for the Utah Jazz in a 95-85 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night in the final preseason game for both teams.

Trailing throughout most of the game, the Kings got within 72-69 early in the fourth quarter, but rookie Eric Maynor hit a 3-pointer and the Jazz pulled away to their third straight game.

Maynor finished with 13 points and Wesley Matthews had 12 for Utah (6-2), which dressed only nine players because of injuries.

"It was weird, I got on the second bus (from the hotel) and there were only four of us on it,'' Utah veteran Carlos Boozer said. "I was like, 'What's going on?' Hopefully we'll get back to full strength in a couple of weeks.''

Rookie guard Tyreke Evans had 21 points, five assists and five rebounds for the Kings (2-6), while Jason Thompson and Andres Nocioni both had 14 points and Omri Casspi added 13.

"Whoever guarded Evans for us had a tough matchup,'' Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "He's a big strong player.''

The barrage of injuries have made the preseason lineup a nightly challenge for Sloan. Utah had to endure a rash of injuries last season when it finished eighth in the Western Conference.

This season Matt Harpring is out indefinitely with ankle and knee problems, thumb surgery will sideline CJ Miles for perhaps another month, and Kyle Korver has played in only one preseason game because of an inflamed left knee.

Also missing against the Kings were starting guard Ronnie Brewer, who was back in Salt Lake City because of back spasms, and backup point guard Ronnie Price, who sat out with a strained hamstring.

Kevin Martin, the Kings' leading scorer last season, sat out a second straight game with a left ankle sprain. A year ago, problems with his left ankle forced Martin to miss 30 games.

Trailing 48-34 at halftime, Thompson ignited the Kings in the third quarter when they nearly matched their first-half point total. Thompson scored nine points as Sacramento outscored Utah 33-23 to trail 71-65 entering the fourth.

"We showed a lot of heart, coming back from 14 points in the third, we could have just given up,'' Thompson said. "We didn't make our free throws down the stretch or we could have gotten a lot closer.''

NOTES: Before the game, a tearful Bobby Jackson announced his retirement. Jackson played six of his 12 seasons in Sacramento, where he was a beloved for his hustling style. Both teams open the regular season Wednesday. Utah is in Denver and the Kings visit Oklahoma City. Kings C Spencer Hawes had his worst game of the preseason, scoring one point. He missed all six shots and was 1 of 6 on free throws.
BOX SCORE | PLAY BY PLAY

UTAH JAZZ QUOTES
Head Coach Jerry Sloan
On the team’s defense
“I thought it was awful today. The way we started off today was like it was non-existent. The kind of help and structure we try to have we didn’t have at the first part of the ballgame.”

On giving minutes to Paul Millsap
“We gotta keep him on the court as much as possible. I think he has shown he needs to be out there. There are opportunities for him to play three and some opportunities for him to play four and five.”

On playing Deron Williams at the two a lot
Well look at our team, I don’t have … Eric (Maynor) has played pretty well and I’m giving him a chance to play. Wesley (Matthews) has played pretty well when he has been out there. Deron, he’s young, and thought he needed to get back in the ballgame and play a few extra minutes.”

Deron Williams
On starting the season with so many injuries
“We are a little depleted right now, so I had to play extra minutes. If we are injured, some one has to step up and play. Hopefully Ronnie Price is back soon. I don’t know if we are going to pick up anyone else soon ….”

Carlos Boozer
On familiarity with his teammates
“We know our stuff inside and out. We have been doing it for a long time. We just continue to get better at it. We are very comfortable. We know what everybody does. We know our strengths and our weaknesses.”

On improving through the preseason
“We will continue to get better. We did a good job of talking out there. We have a long ways to go though. I am happy with it, but we have room to improve.”

SACRAMENTO KINGS QUOTES
Spencer Hawes
“I can’t wait (for the regular season to start). I just played poorly but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Luckily it didn’t count. I think we have a lot of positives to look at. We’ve really improved on a lot of things that killed us last year, especially in the close games that prevented us from getting wins.”

On coming off of the bench:
“It’s a little bit weird but that’s part of the game plan so I guess I just have to adjust to it. I don’t think anything contributed to how I played tonight – I don’t think there’s any excuse you can make for that. I don’t think I can attribute missing 11 total shots between free throws and regular ones to coming off the bench – I don’t think it should have anything to do with that. Obviously I got accustomed to starting but if that’s what he asks then I’ve got to be ready for it.”

On the play of Omri Casspi:
“He doesn’t back down from anyone and that’s what you like to see out of a rookie. It’s fun to see him coming out there and playing so well.”

Jason Thompson
“(Coach) is trying to look at different aspects to help us out. We made the change (with the starting lineup) last game and we were successful. We always have different strategies against different teams so you never know what we’re going to do for the season opener. Whatever works is fine with everybody.”

When asked if he’s glad to have preseason over with:
“Kind of – it’s good that coming up after the opener in Oklahoma City that I won’t be called ‘rookie’ anymore – that’s a good feeling. Obviously we’re trying to be more physical like you’ve seen tonight. Even though it’s preseason, (there were) little things here and there – we showed a lot of heart being down like 16 and coming back. Obviously we didn’t make our free throws down the stretch, but we’re going to learn from that and not have stuff like that happen again.”

Tyreke Evans
“We had some good looks but they just weren’t falling. That was probably one of the toughest defense that I played in preseason – there were a couple veterans out there that just did a good job.”

On the start of the regular season:
“I learned a lot (during preseason). Regular season, hopefully we’re looking forward to a good start. We get Kevin (Martin) back. It was a little tough for me out there to score on the wing but when he gets back, it’ll be fine.”

PRESEASON RESULTS

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