SALT LAKE CITY – The three-man juggling act is over for now.
Kings coach Keith Smart has used Isaiah Thomas and Jimmer Fredette as his two point guards in the last two games, leaving Aaron Brooks on the bench.
"I couldn't play all three of them," Smart said. "(So I'm going to) try to play two guys and keep it consistent."
Fredette usually has been the odd man out lately, but he played 13 minutes Monday night in the Kings' 98-91 overtime loss to the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena.
Brooks has gone from starter to backup to observer.
Since logging 27 minutes in a blowout loss at Denver on Jan. 26, Brooks has played 13 minutes. He has sat out the last two games and three of the last five.
In Brooks' last two appearances, Wednesday at Boston and Friday at Philadelphia, the game took a bad turn for the Kings in the second quarter with him at point guard.
In his last two appearances, Brooks' combined plus/minus rating is a minus-27.
"One thing is we have a huge drop-off in our second quarters," Smart said. "And I'm trying to find different guys to get a nice rhythm to be in there the second quarter so we can kind of manage the game from there as opposed to trying to use three guys to get in a rhythm. So I'm trying to find a nice rhythm here."
Monday, Fredette had two points, one assist, one steal and three turnovers and missed all five of his shots.
Not using Brooks also means John Salmons and Tyreke Evans have more opportunities to initiate the offense when Thomas does not.
Old look is back – The Kings wore their throwback jerseys from the 1996-98 seasons Monday.
The jersey was two-toned black and purple with checkered sides. It was the Kings' alternate jersey in those seasons.
Time for a break – After a six-game trip, the Kings will not practice again until Thursday.
The trip was the longest of the season and took the Kings from Denver to the East Coast before finishing in Utah.
From Feb. 22 to March 1, the Kings have a five-game trip with stops in Atlanta, New Orleans, Miami, Orlando and San Antonio.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
• Read more articles by Jason Jones
Order Reprint
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.