Utah @ Sacramento preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 17, 2018 ) Utah 120, Sacramento 105

The Utah Jazz are one of the hottest teams in the NBA and aim to record their 14th win in the past 16 games when they visit the Sacramento Kings on Saturday. Utah's stellar stretch continued with Friday's 116-108 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves and it stands only two games behind the eighth-place Denver Nuggets for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Jazz stand in 10th place in the West despite the extended dose of strong performances but coach Quin Snyder sees that his club is four games behind the teams occupying the third through sixth spots and feels encouraged. "With 20 games left, every game has significance," Snyder said after Friday's victory. "We need to keep competing and hopefully keep winning and everything will take care of itself." Utah rookie shooting guard Donovan Mitchell scored 34 points when the Jazz recorded a 120-105 victory over the Kings on Jan. 17 and Sacramento rookie shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic also stood out by making all six 3-point attempts while scoring 25 points. The Kings halted a five-game slide with Thursday's 116-111 overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets but have won only three of their last 12 games.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah), NBCS California (Sacramento)

ABOUT THE JAZZ (32-30): Center Rudy Gobert enjoyed his best offensive game of the season by scoring a season-best 26 points on 7-of-9 shooting against Minnesota and also contributed 16 rebounds and four blocked shots. Gobert missed 26 games earlier this season because of two different injuries and initially had trouble recapturing his form but Mitchell was greatly impressed with the big man's latest effort. "He was doing it all," Mitchell said after Friday's victory. "He was blocking shots and we were using that momentum to get easy baskets in the lane. When he is in his mode, it is tough to score on him."

ABOUT THE KINGS (19-43): Rookie point guard De'Aaron Fox continues to become more assertive and he impressed his teammates by hitting a high-arching floater to force the game against Brooklyn in overtime. The 20-year-old deferred to veterans earlier in the season but as his game has developed, so has his confidence and hence an increased willingness to take the lead in pressure situations. "It's always great to play in these games that come to the wire and see who is able to make those plays," Fox told reporters. "I feel like we made the correct plays."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Jazz have prevailed in each of their past four visits to Sacramento.

2. Bogdanovic scored 23 points in the win over the Nets and is averaging 17.3 points over the past four contests.

3. Mitchell scored 26 points against Minnesota for his 31st 20-point outing of the campaign.

PREDICTION: Jazz 106, Kings 102