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Sacramento, Calif. • Before Wednesday, Shelvin Mack was a forgotten man for the Utah Jazz.
Firmly planted on coach Quin Snyder's bench for the better part of three months, Mack has been the bottom peg on a depth chart of four point guards. And for the past three weeks, he's been a regular on Utah's daily injury report, the product of a sprained ankle suffered in a pregame warm-up session.
In what turned out to be a 112-82 win over the Sacramento Kings at the Golden 1 Center, Mack went from forgotten man to an important piece. He went from the bench to playing — and producing — in crucial junctures.
"Shelvin's an important part of our team," Snyder said. "I'm glad that we have four point guards. For Shelvin to be out for that period of time, and to come back this ready to play, that shows where his focus is. That's hard to do. I'm very happy with the way Shelvin played tonight."
There are others on the Jazz who had better statistical nights than Mack; Rodney Hood scored 18 points, Gordon Hayward dropped in 20 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists, and Rudy Gobert was his usual self with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
But it would have been harder for the Jazz to win their 46th game this season without Mack bringing calm to the offense, a little bit of scoring, a lot of defense and the ability to get the Jazz into their offensive sets.
Utah was without starting point guard George Hill on Wednesday and backup Raul Neto, who had been playing his best basketball of the season. Without Hill and without Neto, the Jazz started Dante Exum, and the young point guard went scoreless with four fouls in 20 minutes. That's where Mack filled in a huge gap.
Mack scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds. He shot 5 of 8 from the field, and he was a central figure in a 17-2 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters which gave the Jazz permanent control.
Most importantly, Mack took control of an offense that didn't run properly in the second and third quarters. The ball didn't move well, which allowed the Kings — who had been down 43-19 — to close within 60-58 early in the third quarter. Once Mack got the offense flowing, Utah's main guys were able to do their collective best.
"I just had to Control the things I can control," Mack said. "That's playing defense, trying to make plays, playing hard and staying positive. I just had to stay ready, and when the opportunity came I had to be ready to play."
The Jazz never trailed on Wednesday, scoring the first 11 points of the game and extending that lead to 34-14 by the end of the first quarter. Utah led by 24 points in the second quarter, and that's when they ran into a period of trouble.
It began with the Kings putting reserve guard Ben McLemore into the game, and he scored 17 points in the second quarter. The Jazz's offense began drying up; shots bounded off the rim, turnovers began to add up, and it seemed as if the Kings were going to be able to make a game of it.
But that 17-2 run in the second half was the turning point. The Jazz began rebuilding their lead. And once they retook control of the game, they didn't relinquish it.
Before the game, Hayward, who missed Monday with a strained quadriceps, said the Jazz were going to have to play with energy and urgency, and they did both. Utah held the Kings under 45 percent shooting from the field. Sacramento shot 2 of 15 from the 3-point line, while the Jazz went 13 of 32, their second straight game shooting well from deep.
The Jazz's win allows them to stay 1.5 games ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers for the fourth spot in the Western Conference and home-court advantage. It also keeps Utah 2.5 games ahead of Oklahoma City, which is currently in sixth place.
"It was a game of runs. We made a big run early, and they came back and made a run at us," Hayward said. "But our defense was consistent, and we were able to come away with the win. It was a good win for us."
Twitter: @tribjazz —
Storylines
P The Jazz begin the game on an 11-0 run and never trail in Wednesday's victory.
• Utah scores 42 points in the paint and outrebounds the Kings 43-32.
• Boris Diaw scores 11 points, grabbs three rebounds and hands out three assists, one of six players in double figures for the Jazz.