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When Jazz coach Quin Snyder schemes ways to keep Kings center DeMarcus Cousins in check, he tries to avoid one-on-one matchups.
"I don't think you can do that," Snyder said. "He's too good."
The Kings have had a tough time keeping Cousins in check themselves.
Cousins' nine technical fouls led the NBA coming into Wednesday's matchup with the Jazz. And, one night removed from Cousins' 55-point effort against the Blazers, most of the talk in the basketball world seemed to focus on Cousins' outbursts.
The mercurial center picked up one technical Tuesday night against the Blazers and was later assessed a second when his mouthpiece went flying toward the Portland bench. Cousins' ejection was later overturned when the officials determined he had not thrown the mouthpiece.
After the game, the Kings star called the way he has been officiated "ridiculous," and on Wednesday Kings coach Dave Joerger said Cousins has tried to be better this season.
"He's been working hard at it," Joerger said. "There have been a lot of times where I'll talk to the referee and say, 'That didn't seem like a whole lot. It just seemed like two guys getting tangled up.' A lot of them are double [technical fouls] where, like I said, two guys get tangled up and when you look at it again, it wasn't a big deal."
Injury report
After taking a night off in Oakland, Jazz forward Derrick Favors was back in the rotation Wednesday against the Kings. Favors was expected to play roughly 15 minutes and Snyder said there's not set timetable for expanding his playing time.
"I would imagine it will continue to increase," Snyder said. "I think the rate with which it increases is the main question, but it won't be the rest of the season. Whether it becomes 26, 30, 32, or how that works, a lot of it will just depend on how he responds to the minutes he is playing."
Rodney Hood (flu-like symptoms), Dante Exum (left knee tendinitis), George Hill (sprained left big toe) and Alec Burks (ankle rehabilitation) were all held out of action Wednesday.
'Not there yet'
Coming off a 30-point beatdown at the hands of the Golden State Warriors, Snyder wasn't trying to relive the nightmarish night.
"You're playing against the best team in the league, so what else is there to talk about?" the coach said, when asked what his message was to his players.
But for all the success the Jazz have enjoyed so far this year, the defeat was an eye-opening one.
"It's a good barometer for us that we're not there yet," Snyder said.
Twitter: @aaronfalk