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Sacramento, Calif. • Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin called it and Al Jefferson backed it up.
Minutes after Corbin questioned his players' effort Sunday afternoon during a 106-97 loss to the Kings, Jefferson said a Utah team already eliminated from playoff contention performed like it wanted its disappointing season to be over as soon as possible.
Corbin said the Jazz's defense was terrible. A 21-year-old rookie and a former NBA Development League player outworked and outhustled some of their bigger-named, better-paid teammates. And as Utah (36-41) dropped its eighth consecutive game for the first time since 2004-05, a season that was already falling apart continued to spiral downward.
"We looked like a team [Sunday] that was trying to get it over with," said Jefferson, who acknowledged that his own outing was off the mark. "And that's not who this team — that's not who the Utah Jazz is. It start with us. Coach doing the best he can do, teaching us, coaching us. But we the one out there playing. We've just got to play better than that. That was just terrible."
Utah forward C.J. Miles — who combined with Jefferson to shoot just 7 of 26 from the field — was more direct. After using precise detail this year to break down his team's multilayered struggles, it took Miles just six words to strike at the core of the Jazz's failure Sunday.
"We can't play like that, man," Miles said.
But the Jazz did against Sacramento (22-54), falling for the second time in three games to one of the worst teams in the NBA. Utah was defeated last week by a 20-win Washington squad.
Tyreke Evans led the Kings with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 10 assists, and Sacramento led by as many as 21 points midway through the second quarter.
Utah pulled within five points, at 57-52, with 8:24 left in the third. But the rally was merely a mirage, obscuring a season-high 19 points by Gordon Hayward and a career-high-tying 19 by Kyle Weaver.
Asked if his team gave maximum effort, Hayward said that he could only speak for himself.
"I'm competing as hard as I can every time I step out there," said the No. 9 overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft. "I think we were. But I don't know. I can't gauge everyone; the level that they give out."
Hayward struggled with his confidence and place in the league earlier this season, when Utah was winning games and the playoffs appeared to be guaranteed. Now, the directionless Jazz must win their last five contests just to prevent a losing season. But Hayward has found his own momentum, reacting instead of overthinking and shooting instead of simply deferring.
"Confidence is definitely up. As high as it's been," said Hayward, who made his 13th start of the year. "I think just being more comfortable out there and getting more minutes is helping me out a lot."
While the rookie continued his late-season surge, Utah went nowhere. The Jazz again changed their starting lineup, going small after experimenting with Kyrylo Fesenko in the first unit Friday in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Fesenko played just 5:26 against the Kings, though. Meanwhile, Derrick Favors — the No. 3 overall pick of the 2010 draft and a major key to the Jazz's rebuilding efforts — did not start, despite Utah technically having nothing to play for besides pride and player development.
Corbin said in a pregame interview that he planned to keep Favors out of the first unit because of matchup issues. Yet the promising rookie power forward was soon called off the bench, matching up against Sacramento's starting four, DeMarcus Cousins.
With Corbin searching for answers and Utah already dealing with injury problems, the Jazz were forced to resort to a variety of mismatched lineups. None was odder than an early fourth-quarter unit that featured all three rookies, Weaver and starting power forward Paul Millsap.
Rotations could continue to revolve. Corbin said that he plans to only start players who are "giving effort" during Utah's last five games.
"We lost to a team who really has nothing to lose, either," Millsap said. "We just didn't give everything we got out there."
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