Look good, play good.
Sporting their purple mountain-themed Classic Edition uniforms, the Utah Jazz sprinted out of the gate and then coasted to a lopsided 113-81 win over the Sacramento Kings Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
This was the kind of performance that fans had been waiting for. After four straight preseason losses and disjointed efforts versus the Thunder (a win) and Lakers (a loss), Utah's offense finally started to click against the Kings. The Jazz shot 56.4 percent from the field and dished out 28 assists.
"It's fun to play when the ball's moving," Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said. "That happened a lot tonight—guys were making the extra pass."
Bojan Bogdanović scored a game-high 26 points for the Jazz, while Donovan Mitchell added 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Utah held a double-digit lead for all but about 11 minutes, and no Jazz player played more than 25 minutes in the blowout victory.
Mike Conley finished with 12 points and eight assists, and Georges Niang came off the bench to score 14 points.
The Jazz (2-1) took the floor tonight less than 24 hours after they shot only 41.4 percent from the field and finished with more turnovers (22) than assists (19) in a loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles.
"I think we all live long enough to have good days and bad days. The way our team responded from last night is the significant thing," Snyder said. "You don't just forget about a performance that's not to the level that you want. You respond to it and try to make adjustments."
Only two Sacramento players—Dewayne Dedmon (11 points) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (10 points)—scored in double figures in the loss. The Kings are 0-3 so far this season, with an average margin of nearly -24 points.
Saturday's Best
After missing Friday night's game with an ankle injury, Bogdanović was back in the starting lineup against the Kings—and he was on fire from the opening tip. The Croatian sharpshooter had 12 points in the first quarter to help the Jazz build a quick double-digit lead, and he finished with 26 points on 10-for-18 shooting, including 5-for-9 from three, along with four rebounds, one assist and one steal in 24 minutes.
Key Stretches
Utah jumped out to a quick start behind Bogdanović, who converted a three-point play, put in a layup, hit a mid-range jumper and sank a 3-pointer—all in the first five minutes. Conley and Royce O'Neale added 3-pointers to put Utah up 18-8 and force a Kings timeout. Sacramento played from behind the rest of the game.
Utah blitzed Sacramento just before halftime, closing the second quarter on a 20-5 run to take a 25-point lead into the break. Bogdanović scored 11 of those points—including a three from 28 feet out to just beat the shot clock—while Conley added five and both Mitchell and Niang put in layups during that stretch.
The Jazz pushed their lead to 37 within the first five-plus minutes of the third quarter, and at that point finishing the game was pretty much a formality as Sacramento head coach Luke Walton put his starters on the bench for good.
Significant Stats
45.5
After shooting only 4-for-27 in his first two games, Conley shot 5-for-11 (45.5 percent) in 24 minutes against the Kings. He made a three from the wing early in the first quarter to get going, and then added a smooth driving layup, a step-back jumper off one foot, and another three later on. Conley had a net rating of +26, good for third best on the team behind Mitchell (+36) and Bogdanović (+32).
18
The Jazz made nine of their first 12 3-point attempts and finished the game shooting 18-for-37 (48.6 percent) from deep. Bogdanovicć (5-for-9), Mitchell (3-for-3), Jeff Green (3-for-4), Niang (2-for-4), Joe Ingles (2-for-5) and Conley (2-for-6) each made multiple threes.
4
Sacramento played at the third-fastest pace in the NBA last season, but tonight the Jazz outscored the Kings 12-4 in transition. Standout point guard De'Aaron Fox, one of the fastest players in the NBA, finished with only nine points on 3-for-9 shooting in the loss.
Notable
This was the first time since December 9, 2018 that Mitchell failed to attempt at least 10 shots. ... Snyder successfully challenged a foul call midway through the second quarter when Conley was wrongfully whistled for a foul on a 3-point attempt by Fox. ... Danté Exum (knee rehab) sat out for the Jazz, while Marvin Bagley (thumb) did not play for the Kings. ... Utah outrebounded Sacramento 43-31. ... The Kings shot only 37.0 percent from the field. ... Emmanuel Mudiay finished with 10 points, four rebounds and four assists in 24 minutes off the bench for the Jazz.
Up Next
The Jazz will hit the road to face the Phoenix Suns on Monday night. Tipoff is set for 8:00pm MT. Utah's next home game is on Wednesday at 8:00pm MT against the LA Clippers.
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