In a preview of next week's regular season opener, the Utah Jazz traveled to Sacramento to face the Kings Thursday night.
And, after a 132-93 beat down of their hosts, Utah sure seems ready to go.
The Jazz jumped out to a 47-12 lead in the first 15 minutes and then cruised to the victory, finishing the preseason with a perfect 5-0 record.
"I think we came out with a great mindset tonight—definitely wanted to make a statement defensively," Utah's Derrick Favors said after the game. "We wanted to make sure we were sharp before the season started. We played great tonight."
Two-handed dunks by Favors and Rudy Gobert. 3-pointers by Favors, Joe Ingles and Jae Crowder. Explosive drives by Donovan Mitchell and Danté Exum. Strong bench play from Alec Burks and Grayson Allen. Everything was working for the Jazz, who shot 60.7 percent from the field and led by as many 42 points.
Gobert scored each of his game-high 18 points (on 7-for-8 shooting) in the first half before resting the entire second half, while Favors stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 18 minutes.
Burks (17 points), Allen (14 points), Mitchell (13 points) and Crowder (12 points) also scored in double figures for the Jazz.
Georges Niang came off the bench to score eight points and grab five rebounds, and he put the icing on the cake with a reverse dunk late in the blowout win.
Rookie Marvin Bagley III (17 points, eight rebounds) and center Willie Cauley-Stein (16 points) led the way for the Kings in the loss.
Notable
Sacramento shot 34.4 percent from the field. ... Ricky Rubio struggled from the field (1-for-6) but also dished out six assists in 16 first-half minutes. Exum also had six assists as the Jazz finished with 31 dimes on 51 made baskets. ... The Jazz shot 14-for-30 (48.3 percent) from 3-point range. Mitchell (3-for-5) led the way. ... Justin Jackson and Henry Giles scored 12 points each off the bench for the Kings. ... Utah outrebounded Sacramento 51-34.
Up Next
The Jazz will tip off the 2018-19 regular season when they visit Sacramento to play the Kings on Wednesday at 8pm.