NBA BASKETBALL Jazz beat Kings for 9th straight win

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz struggled from long range. They were on at the free-throw line.

Donovan Mitchell scored 28 points, and the Jazz beat the Sacramento Kings 103-97 on Saturday night for their ninth straight victory.

Rudy Gobert had 22 points and 13 rebounds for Utah, and Ricky Rubio added 14

Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell goes up for a shot over Sacramento Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic during Saturday night’s game in Salt Lake City. Associated Press points, nine rebounds and five assists. The Jazz (40-30) won for the 21st time in their last 23 games.

Sacramento went 14 for 21 from 3-point range, but Utah made 31 of 38 at the line. Gobert went 8 for 10 as six different Jazz players shot at least four free throws.

The free throws helped make up for a disparity on the perimeter. Utah went 6 for 24 from beyond the arc, and Sacramento was 9 for 14 on foul shots.

The Kings (23-48) lost to the Jazz for the third time this season. Buddy Hield scored 23 points, and Bogdan Bogdanovic finished with 12.

“When you’re shooting well or you’re not shooting well, these things come or go throughout the course of the season,” Kings coach Dave Joerger said. “It’s just like a batting average – you can get hot for a while and then sometimes you’re not for a while.”

De’aaron Fox made a free throw and dunked off a pass from Garrett Temple to rally the Kings into a 94-all tie with 1:11 remaining. But Joe Ingles, Rubio and Gobert each made two free throws to make it 100-94 with about 23 seconds to go.