The Utah Jazz stayed undefeated through three preseason games, albeit two against international clubs, including Friday night’s victory over the Adelaide 36ers. Adelaide, the hometown team of Joe Ingles, hung close with the Jazz for most of three quarters, before a 35-13 4th quarter in favor of Utah allowed the team to cruise to a 129-99 victory.
Rudy Gobert never suited up, and the Jazz starters didn’t play after the first half, but the team was still lead by Donovan Mitchell who recorded 18 points in 18 minutes on 7-14 shooting, but just 1-7 from the three point line.
Ricky Rubio finished with 13 points on just 2-7 shooting, but his two makes came from the three point line, where Rubio is now shooting 6-14 from three through three preseason games, good for 42%. If Rubio can keep this shooting number up, his value to the Jazz starting backcourt will continue to grow, and will make him one of the better point guards in the NBA.
After a poor shooting performance against Toronto, Grayson Allen bounced back with a 16 point performance on 6-8 shooting, including 4-6 from the three point line. Allen is 10-19 from beyond the arc this season, good for a very promising 52%. If Allen can continue to shoot better than even 35%, he find his way into a backcourt rotation that needs shooters.
The Jazz next preseason game will be on Sunday at Portland.
