Sacramento @ Utah preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 3, 2018 ) Utah 98, Sacramento 91

The streaking Utah Jazz aim to post their ninth consecutive victory when they host the Sacramento Kings on Saturday. Utah's stretch of success has allowed it to elevate into the tie for seventh place in the Western Conference with the San Antonio Spurs.

The Jazz were nine games below .500 with one week left in January but have since gone 20-2 to become a player in the tightly congested playoff puzzle in the West. Utah rolled to a 116-88 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday and has won its last six contests by an average margin of 21.2 points. Sacramento arrives in Salt Lake City on a high note after posting a 98-93 road win over the injury riddled Golden State Warriors on Friday for its second win at Oracle Arena this season. "It's just a side note as we grow and build," Kings rookie point guard De'Aaron Fox said afterward. "Every games matters for us just trying to get better."

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

ABOUT THE KINGS (23-47): Sacramento is miles outside of the playoff picture but the young team was pleased to thrive down the stretch and score the final five points in the road win over the defending NBA champions. Backup shooting guard Buddy Hield made five 3-pointers while contributing 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and is averaging 23 points on 16-of-29 shooting over the past two games. Power forward Skal Labissiere scored 15 points in 26 minutes off the bench after missing three straight games with a hip injury.

ABOUT THE JAZZ (39-30): Guard Dante Exum (shoulder) made his season debut Thursday and had 10 points in 14 minutes. Exum, the fifth overall pick in the 2014 draft, underwent surgery in October and it was unclear if he would make it back on the floor this season. "He made a choice that he was going to attack it," Utah coach Quin Snyder told reporters. "There's been a determination ... not just to rehabilitate his shoulder, but also to stay connected mentally and stay a part of the group is something that he's done. It would be easy to disconnect and become detached and wallow in your misery and he just didn't do that."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Jazz are 2-0 against the Kings this season and have won the past four meetings.

2. Sacramento backup C Kosta Koufos collected 12 rebounds against the Warriors and has reached double digits in five of the past six games.

3. Utah C Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 13 rebounds against the Suns and is averaging 20.7 points and 13.7 rebounds while registering three consecutive double-doubles.

PREDICTION: Jazz 110, Kings 90