Jazz caught at the end

The Sacramento Kings got a lesson in how tenuous a big lead at home can be when they blew a 21-point margin and lost to the Utah Jazz last month.

On Friday, the Kings reminded the Jazz that what happened in Sacramento can happen just as easily in Salt Lake City.

Sacramento rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat Utah, 98-97, overcoming its worst quarter of the season with one of its best.

“In this league, teams will let you back in. You’ve just got to play hard,” said Mike Bibby, who scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half.

Bibby scored seven of Sacramento’s 13 points in the third quarter, then the Kings scored 32 in the fourth quarter and evened the season series with Utah at 1-1. Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 21, including the go-ahead three-point basket with 59 seconds left to play.

The Jazz entered the game with the NBA’s best record and had lost only once at home, but couldn’t score after Carlos Boozer put Utah up, 97-93, with 1:36 to play. Utah’s Derek Fisher and Deron Williams bounced shots off the rim in the last few seconds and Jazz fans seemed shocked when the buzzer sounded and their team hadn’t pulled off another victory.

“The team never quit,” Sacramento Coach Eric Musselman said. “A team that didn’t believe in themselves or wasn’t resilient or wasn’t desperate for a win probably could lose that game in double digits.”

The Kings had lost six of seven but were definitely sharper at the end. “They just kept playing and playing,” Utah Coach Jerry Sloan said. “They just kept coming at us.”

Williams had 15 points and nine assists and Boozer finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for his 17th double-double of the season. Andrei Kirilenko added 11 points and 11 rebounds and Mehmet Okur scored 14 for the Jazz.

It was quite similar to Utah’s 110-101 win in Sacramento on Nov. 22, when the Kings blew a 21-point lead and lost at home.