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Sacramento • For Alec Burks, Monday night was bigger than basketball.
Burks, a shooting guard for the Utah Jazz, and his significant other welcomed the first child for the couple into the world, a girl.
Burks missed Utah's win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night, but rejoined the Jazz in time for Wednesday's game against the Sacramento Kings.
"It was a life-changing experience for sure," Burks said. "I wasn't nervous, but I was excited. It was a long process. We were in there (the hospital) for two days straight. But it was well worth the wait."
Burks said the birth of his first child put things in perspective for him beyond basketball. He knows now he's in charge of another life, and he now has a daughter that will lean on him and rely on him.
When he returned to the Jazz, he received congratulations from his teammates — many of whom are fathers themselves — and the organization.
Without George Hill and Raul Neto, the Jazz on Wednesday relied on Burks to create and initiate offense off the bench. With Utah's second unit lagging for the past few weeks, the Jazz know they need Burks to begin playing better on both ends.
"It's always good to have Alec back," Jazz forward Gordon Hayward said. "He's someone who can create for us. He's someone who can get to the basket and get out in transition for us. We're happy for his new addition, and we're happy that he's back."
More injuries for Utah
Both Hill and Neto missed Wednesday's game after both suffered strained groins in Monday's win over the Pelicans.
With those two missing, the Jazz plugged Dante Exum into the starting lineup, and moved Shelvin Mack into the backup role off the bench.
Utah played without starting power forward Derrick Favors, who has missed the past 11 games with a knee contusion. But the plan, league sources tell The Tribune — is for Favors to return before the end of the regular season.
King guard heats up in first half
The Jazz had difficulty stopping Sacramento reserve guard Ben McLemore in Wednesday's second quarter. McLemore scored 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. He grabbed three rebounds as well.
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