SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Utah Jazz hasn't grabbed control of the first-round matchup against the heavily favored Sacramento Kings. The Utah Jazz has grabbed the remote control.

Vlade Divac calls it a series after Game 1, and the underdogs answer in resounding fashion. About 12 guys hit the mute button at the same time. (Although Jerry Sloan chews out Greg Ostertag for doing it wrong.)

	John Stockton, right, scored 13 points and recorded 12 assists in Utah's upset in Game 2.

The Kings win the four regular-season meetings by a combined 91 points, with only one of the final margins in single digits, and the underdogs start looking like a flashback. Rewind.

It's 1-1 heading to Salt Lake City, and it's 1999. John Stockton -- a combined 23 points, 24 assists, six turnovers and five steals -- is controlling the tempo. Karl Malone is hitting huge shots in the fourth quarter. The Jazz is imposing its will and dictating the pace toward its preferred halfcourt style and executing instead of talking. Stop us if you've heard any of this before.

The Sacramento Deer-in-the-headlights have not adjusted to the shock of Utah going pick-and-roll and playing physical and doing so with composure. Who could have seen that coming? And this stuff about the refs letting things go a little more in the playoffs than in the regular season? Shocking. The Jazz just punched the Kings in the mouth twice in a row, staggering the Pacific Division champions once and standing over them the other time, and the Kings have barely pushed back. The Lakers see this, chuckle and shake their heads, and Rick Fox falls asleep dreaming about the chance to get so far up into Peja Stojakovic's face that Stojakovic will need dental floss to get rid of him.

Toughness was the main question about the Kings coming in, mental and physical. It took all of two games to make it the primary issue of their playoffs as well, to the extent that even beating the Jazz in the end will come with the burden of still needing to prove everything. Utah-Sacramento was supposed to be the closest thing to a lock the Western Conference would see all postseason, and the only thing it's done in reality is chain the Kings to their reputation. Homecourt advantage has so far proven to be every bit the insignificant factor as predicted -- they lost three of four at Arco Arena a year ago, including splitting two against the Suns in the first round, and are 1-1 in 2002 -- and now it's their road skills that get another challenge.

Among the other challenges in front of them, that is.

"If you think the referees were bad, I'd say we were worse because we're not playing our kind of basketball," backup big man Scot Pollard said. "I can't blame the referees; I can't blame the Jazz. It's the Kings who need to look at ourselves and re-evaluate and get our (butt) in gear. You can say all you want about homecourt this or away that or toughness or physical play and all that. I still think it goes back to we're not playing our style of basketball. We're not doing what we usually do."

The winningest team of the regular season has needed two games to lose its way.

"They are still beating us to loose balls," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "They are still beating us in effort areas."

The team that ran opponents into the ground in the regular season with an up-tempo style has needed two games to get shown up.

"For whatever reason," shooting guard Doug Christie said, "they've dictated tempo. But looking at the film, you have to look yourself in the mirror and say, 'What's going on?' We're doing that, and we're ready to play. ... Shots are going to fall, shots aren't going to fall and that's just going to happen. But the effort as far as doing the little things we need to do, that's the biggest thing we need to focus on. I think they have imposed their will more than we've imposed our will."

	“	For whatever reason, they've dictated tempo. ... I think they have imposed their will more than we've imposed our will. ”
		— Doug Christie

So much for a very impressive final month of the regular season.

It turns out the Kings weren't close to being mentally prepared for the playoffs. And this isn't even close to being a cohesive Jazz unit either. Sloan said in the final days of the regular season that "I've never had a team that's been this selfish since I've been in the league," and Malone conceeded that "this has been my most trying year" because of an obvious frustration over some of the eight free agents-in-waiting jacking up shots to boost their statistics in an obvious attempt at a money grab. So this isn't the usual all-business approach around the Delta Center.

But there was the Jazz outhustling the Kings for loose balls and beating them on the boards, although the latter shouldn't be a great surprise since Utah was No. 1 in the league in rebounding percentage.

And there was the Jazz bench outperforming its Sacramento counterpart, which should be. Ostertag, Rusty LaRue, Quincy Lewis, Donyell Marshall and Scott Padgett over Sixth Man runner-up Bobby Jackson, Pollard and Hedo Turkoglu. Hell, Marshall alone over Jackson, Pollard and Turkoglu: 30-25 in points and 18-13 in rebounds.

The Kings are clearly the better talkers, though. "I think it was their best shot tonight, and they didn't win," Divac said after Sacramento escaped with an 89-86 victory in the opener. "So they're done." Or maybe not. The Jazz grind out a 93-86 decision in Game 2, as Sacramento manages four points after nine minutes and 29 points at halftime. And the next day Chris Webber says, "It's a 1-1 series. I don't think our hearts are on the line, because we're not going to lose the series. And if I'm the leader, that's my confidence and that's how we're going to roll."

Of course they are.

Aren't they?

Ummmm ... sure. Everyone knows Stockton and Malone don't have anything left.

Scott Howard-Cooper, who covers the NBA for the Sacramento Bee, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.