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Rudy Gobert made his statement early.

On the very first play of the game Saturday night, Sacramento Kings forward Rudy Gay looked into the paint, sized up the Jazz's 7-footer and took off into the air.

A moment later, Gay was seated on the floor and Gobert had logged his first block of the game.

"The first one was very important," Gobert said after the Jazz's 104-84 victory over the Kings. "The first play of the game and someone's trying to dunk on you, you kind of have to make a statement."

And just in case he didn't make himself clear, Gobert went on to block five more shots, while bottling up Kings center DeMarcus Cousins.

Only two players in the NBA average more points per game than Cousins' 28.8, so Jazz coach Quin Snyder figured his team would have its hands full dealing with the mercurial big man.

"He's virtually unstoppable because he can score from so many spots on the floor," Snyder had said before tipoff, "so it's really more a question of how can you try to make him less efficient."

Gobert helped answer that question.

The Jazz center made life difficult for Cousins at Vivint Smart Home Arena, limiting him to 16 points — about 13 fewer than his average — on 7-of-22 shooting.

"Obviously he's one of the best big guys in the league," forward Joe Ingles said of Cousins. "Rudy did a hell of a job."

Gobert, meanwhile, notched his 15th double-double of the season, going for 17 points and 14 rebounds, to complement his season-high six swats.

Even one blocked shot can turn a game around.

"It's a big momentum boost, momentum shifter, especially at home," Gordon Hayward said. "The crowd gets into it for you."

And when the Utah Jazz needed a boost Saturday night, they got one from one of the best shot-blockers in the business.

With the Jazz clinging to a tenuous, one-point lead against the Kings late in the third quarter, Sacramento put the ball in Cousins' hands. The big man started from the left side of the floor, dribbled through the paint, bumped his defender backward and went up toward the rim.

Gobert was still there waiting to stuff Cousins, sending him falling to the ground in the process.

"I just try to make stops," Gobert said. "When somebody comes to the rim, I just have to protect it."

Hayward scored a game-high 26 points, to go along with seven rebounds, in his return from a one-game absence due to a finger injury. In doing so, he became the first Jazzman since Karl Malone to score 20-plus points in 10 consecutive games.

"Doesn't really mean that much to me," Hayward said of the personal accomplishment. Instead, Utah's leading scorer said he wanted to focus on his team's effort to win eight of its last 10 games. "It's something where I'm proud of us fighting and getting wins and looking at the streak we've been on as far as winning basketball games."

The Kings were led by a 20-point effort from Gay, but they got plenty of help from the Jazz, too.

The Jazz watched Sacramento start the game on an 11-0 run, and then gave up a 10-0 run at the start of the second half. The Jazz also committed 22 turnovers, leading to 36 points for the visitors.

"Those can't happen when we're playing a little bit better of a team," Hayward said. "It's hard when you get down that big against a good squad to come back."

afalk@sltrib.com Twitter: @aaronfalk —

Storylines

R Gordon Hayward scores 26 points, making him the first Jazzman since Karl Malone in 2001-02 to score 20-plus points in 10 straight games.

• Rudy Gobert blocks a season-high six shots. His three games of five-plus blocks are the most in the NBA this season.