There's traditionally no tougher month on the calendar for the Jazz than December, thanks in large part to the team's annual pre-Christmas trip. The Jazz will play nine of 15 games on the road, beginning with Tuesday's game at Sacramento.
The Jazz went 5-11 in December last season and only could lament it as the lost month that possibly cost them the Western Conference's top playoff seed. This season, the Jazz will take an 11-7 record into December, having lost two home games in the past week. "We don't have the cushion that we had last year," C.J. Miles said. "Last year we had a great start, we didn't lose any games at home, we had everybody healthy until December. This year, we've lost a few more games than we did last year.
"Our December is a lot of road games, and with our past on the road, we have to find a way to buckle up. And guys are coming back, so we have to find a way to win games."
The Jazz would like to avenge their two losses to the Kings at Arco Arena last season, but the Kings will be out to pay back the Jazz for a Friday loss that included a 44-point third quarter in which Deron Williams threw an alley-oop off the backboard to Miles for a dunk.
After the game, Kings coach Reggie Theus called out his players, saying of the quarter, "The one thing that I would have liked to see is one of our guys get really angry about it. Not hurt anybody or anything like that, but be angry about what was happening on the floor."
NETS 105, JAZZ 88: New Jersey's Devin Harris scored 34 points, four shy of his career high, and was the perfect storm for the Jazz to handle. Harris was too quick for either Deron Williams or Ronnie Price, and the Jazz had little shot-blocking presence once Harris got in the lane. Harris hit 13 of 17 shots, missing more free throws (five) than field goals (four).
The Jazz shot 43.4 percent and committed 19 turnovers, which the Nets converted into 24 points.
