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Jazz survive feisty Kings in season opener

Less than a week ago, the Utah Jazz burst out of the gates in Sacramento and rolled to a preseason win over the Kings, owning a 30 plus point lead throughout most of the game.

On Wednesday, neither those Jazz, nor those Kings were anywhere to be seen. In both teams season opener, the Kings were the early aggressors and jumped out to an early 9-0 lead, before building it to double digits in the first quarter. Donovan Mitchell and Ricky Rubio were absent to start the game, with neither starting guard scoring in the opening quarter.

On the opposite side, the Kings were energized by aggressive play from their young back court in De’Aaron Fox, Yogi Ferrell, and Buddy Hield. Rubio and Mitchell struggled to penetrate the Kings defense, and when they did, the Kings athleticism clogged up passing lanes and made it difficult for the Jazz to find early looks.

That changed when Quin Snyder went to his reserves in the backcourt, as the impressive play from Alec Burks and Dante Exum continued from the preseason onto the floor in Sacramento. Exum and Burks would finish with 13 points apiece, with Exum finishing the game in place of Rubio.

Joe Ingles carried the load for the Jazz offensively in the first half, connecting on each of his first three three-point attempts, finishing the game with 22 points on just 12 shot attempts. Ingles was really phenomenal for the Jazz tonight.

Mitchell and Gobert had rough games tonight, with neither having their typical impact on a game, as was evidenced by their -12 (Mitchell) and -9 (Gobert) on court stats. With that said, Mtichell led the way with 24 points despite shooting just 8-21, and had 11 fourth quarter points.

Gobert battled with Willy Cauley-Stein all night, and Cauley-Stein probably outplayed the Jazz star center. The Kings young big man finished the game with 23 points, seven rebounds, and four assists and was a +17 on the night. And still, Gobert finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks on 7-9 shooting.

If Mitchell and Gobert are going to struggle, and still give the Jazz those numbers, that’s a good sign as the team’s bench is more than equipped to carry the load against opposing backups.

The Jazz will get a much stiffer test Friday night in Salt Lake City when they host the Golden State Warriors in their home opener.

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