The Roundup—Jazz overcome slow start to beat Kings

After months of hype, buildup and anticipation, Wednesday night finally brought the action.

And, despite a (very) slow start, the Jazz came from behind to secure a 123-117 season-opening win in Sacramento.

Tonight's game featured a Kings team with speed and fight—a squad that looked night-and-day different from the one that rolled over in a 39-point preseason loss to the Jazz last week.

"We came out flat, and they came out with something to prove," Utah guard Donovan Mitchell said after the game. "Our second squad came in and really lifted our energy and picked it up for us. Not every game is going to be easy, but we reacted and pulled it out."

Mitchell scored 11 of his team-high 24 points in the fourth quarter, while Rudy Gobert (19 points, 15 rebounds, three blocks) and Derrick Favors (18 points, nine rebounds) were strong in the paint.

Joe Ingles added 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting.

The Jazz trailed by as many as 16 early on before storming back and outscoring the Kings 38-21 in the second quarter. That momentum swing had much to do with Utah's bench trio of Jae Crowder, Alec Burks and Danté Exum, who finished with 13 points each and combined to shoot 6-for-10 from 3-point range.

Willie Cauley-Stein (23 points, seven rebounds, four assists) and De'Aaron Fox (21 points, seven assists, three steals) led the way for the Kings.

Ingles was everything the Jazz needed Wednesday night, making eight of his first nine shots en route to 22 points. The 31-year-old sharpshooter added team highs in assists (six) and steals (four) and, perhaps most importantly, provided a steady presence during the team's slow start. Ingles scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half to help the Jazz take a 13-point lead into halftime.

The Jazz fell behind 9-0—thanks to 0-for-3 shooting and three turnovers—before Ingles grabbed a steal and threw down a one-handed slam for Utah's first bucket of the season. Burks came in midway through the first quarter and provided an immediate spark with a 3-pointer from the wing. The Kings, though, made three straight buckets to take a 25-9 lead.

A three by Exum, block by Gobert and dunk by Gobert (off a pass from Exum) gave Utah a lift. Two free throws and a three by Crowder, and then a dunk by Favors, extended Utah's pulled the Jazz within four at 27-23. After a Sacramento timeout, Exum sprinted to the rim for a layup to cap a 16-2 run. A three by Ingles and two free throws by Crowder brought Utah within one (at 31-30) late in the first quarter, and another 3-pointer by Burks gave the Jazz their first lead of the game with 10:04 left in the second quarter.

Utah extended its lead to double digits thanks to Ingles, who slashed to the rim for a layup, poked away a steal and then pulled up for a 3-pointer. Mitchell added nine second-quarter points as the Jazz took a 13-point lead into halftime.

The Kings, though, began the second half on a 20-5 run to take back the lead. Utah answered with two quick buckets—a layup by Ingles and an alley-oop slam from Exum to Gobert—and then went on a 9-0 run late in the third quarter to take an eight-point lead. Sacramento would hang around for the first half of the fourth quarter, but Mitchell scored five straight points to put the Jazz up by 11 with just under four minutes remaining.

6:34

After missing his first five shots, Mitchell finally scored the first basket of his sophomore season—a 3-pointer from the wing—with 6:34 remaining in the second quarter. Mitchell made eight of his final 16 shots to close the game as the high scorer.

+15

Utah's bench outscored Sacramento's reserves 39-24. On a night when each one of the Kings' five starters finished with a positive differential, the play of Burks (+25), Exum (+21) and Crowder (+17) made a huge difference in Utah's win.

62

Gobert blocked three shots and (as usual) challenged nearly everything Sacramento put up, but the Kings still finished with 62 points in the paint (compared to 54 for the Jazz) and shot 51.6 percent from the field.

Jazz head coach Quin Snyder

The Jazz are now 3-15 in season openers on the road. They had lost four straight before tonight's win in Sacramento. ... Utah shot 51.9 percent from the field and 73.7 percent (28-for-38) from the free-throw line. ... Buddy Hield (19 points), Nemanja Bjelica (18 points) and Yogi Ferrell (12 points) also scored in double figures for the Kings. ... The Jazz turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 24 Sacramento points. The Kings turned the ball over only nine times. ... Utah shot 13-for-27 (48.1 percent) from 3-point range, with Ingles (4-for-6), Burks (3-for-3), Mitchell (3-for-10) and Crowder (2-for-4) leading the way.

The Jazz will return home to face the Golden State Warriors on Friday night. Tipoff is set for 8:30pm MT and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

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