This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sacramento, Calif. • On Sunday afternoon, George Hill threw up a prayer.
After the Utah Jazz had battled back from a 16-point deficit to force overtime, they still found themselves on the verge of a deflating defeat, down one with the final seconds of the game ticking off the clock.
Hill faded away and fired a shot.
"Knew it probably wasn't going to be close," Hill said later, "but at that point [I was] trying to pray to the basketball gods to give us something for coming back that far."
The point guard prayed, and got his answer from the big man.
The long left arm of 7-foot-2 Rudy Gobert tipped in Hill's airball as time expired, giving the Jazz a 110-109 overtime win against the Sacramento Kings.
"That's who Rudy is," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. He doesn't give up on plays."
Gobert finished the game with 16 points, 24 rebounds, three blocks, three assists and a steal — and in doing so, he helped save his team from what would have been a deflating loss to the lottery-bound Kings.
The Jazz were so poor in the first half of Sunday's game that coach Quin Snyder decided to skip his usual halftime routine of breaking down film with his players in the locker room.
"They didn't need to see a bunch of video of us not playing good," the coach said.
The Jazz struggled to find their shooting touch in the first half. Even worse, they were soft on defense, fouling only three times and forcing just one turnover, as the Kings built up a 59-45 halftime lead.
Sacramento's advantage would grow to 16 before Utah started to mount its comeback.
Shooting guard Rodney Hood scored 19 of his game-high 28 points in the second half, including a stretch where he connected on four straight 3-pointers.
The Jazz chipped away at the deficit, but still trailed by seven with just under two minutes to play in regulation. Hood hit a 10-foot fadeaway. Then Gordon Hayward, who had 23 points on the day, scored five straight.
With about 10 seconds to play, Hayward found Gobert with a bounce pass just inside the free-throw line. The center did the rest from there, gathering the pass and taking two giant steps without a dribble to kiss the tying layup off the glass.
With the memory of last week's 27-point blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves still in their minds, the Jazz knew they could ill afford to lose to another lottery team.
"It would be real deflating," Hood said. "When we went into overtime, we said let's go get this game. We knew it would hurt if we didn't."
Said Gobert, "We had a wake-up call a few days ago already. So I hope it's the last one."
Hill had a chance to put the Jazz up three late in the extra period, but the 80 percent foul shooter missed a pair of free throws. On the other end of the floor, Willie Cauley-Stein (a 62 percent foul shooter) made two to put the Kings up one.
With 10 seconds to find a game-winner, Snyder put the ball in Hill's hands, telling him to either find Hayward or make a play for himself.
Gobert stepped in to save the day instead, though not without some added drama. The officials originally declared the basket no good, claiming Gobert had touched the ball while it was over the cylinder.
Gobert looked up at the gigantic screen that hung over the basketball court, watched his own replay once, and wasn't sure what was going to happen.
"I'm from Europe," where there is no offensive goal tending rule, Gobert joked said, "so I thought it was good. But you never know."
When the referees reversed their call, Hill and the Jazz surrounded Gobert near the bench.
"I was just proud of him," Hill said.
afalk@sltrib.com Twitter: @aaronfalk —
Storylines
R Utah rallies from 16 down in the second half to force overtime.
• The Kings turn the ball over seven times in the fourth quarter, leading to 11 points for the Jazz. More coverage • Utah guard Hood scores 28 points in his return to the starting lineup. > B4