Utah Jazz completes perfect pre-season with easy win against Sacramento Kings

SACRAMENTO – Maybe the Sacramento Kings were trying to lull Utah Jazz into action Thursday night at the Golden 1 Center because they will be playing again next week. If not, how can you explain how bad the Kings looked at the Jazz when they lost 29 points in the first quarter and up to 38 points in the first half?

The Kings tried to make it a little respectable in the second half, but the Jazz still won 39 points, or 132-93, although he did not even face his main players in the second half. .

It was the last pre-season game of both teams as the Jazz improved to 5-0, the second season in a row, they were perfect during the pre-season, while the Kings dropped to 2-3 . The big question is: how did the Kings win two pre-season games?

Sacramento looked horrible, whether that or the Jazz were very good. The Kings scored just 10 points in the first quarter on 4 shots out of 27, while the Jazz scored 39 points on 12 out of 20 shots.

One would have thought that the Jazz was still playing against the Perth Wildcats or the Adelaide 36ers, a pair of Australian teams with whom they played at home during their first two pre-season games, such as this one.

Before the game, coach Quin Snyder said he hoped to see a better defensive effort from his first group after a "mediocre" performance Sunday in Portland. Joe Ingles and Rudy Gobert both blocked the penalty shootout in the first two minutes and an aggressive defense forced the Kings to make several failed shot attempts.

"I thought we had adopted the right state of mind and Rudy protected the rims well," Snyder said. "They had more paint than I would have liked, but we had some impact. These are also shots they will do sometimes. We played better in defense but there are more. "

None of the Jazz starters played more than 18 minutes, as Snyder was able to clear his bench early and let his starters rest in the second half.

Gobert had 18 points on 7 out of 8 shots and also had seven rebounds. Derrick Favors, the only starter to play in the second half, finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Donovan Mitchell had 13 points, including 3 out of 5 at long distance, Ingles had six points, five rebounds and three assists, while Ricky Rubio had just two points, but had six assists.

Grayson Allen did not play until the second half, but he added another good line as he finished with 14 points on 5 shots out of 9, including a 3-point pair. Alec Burks had another solid match with 17 points on 6 out of 10 shots.

Mitchell said the Jazz were playing their best game so far and were motivated by slower starts, especially in their last two games.

"The most important thing for us is that we started slowly and wanted to go and enjoy it from the beginning," Mitchell said. "We have raised the problem where we need to be all year. We went out and showed that we could do it. This is how we should play the rest of the year. I think it's the best we've played all season. "

Before the match, Snyder had said he wanted to "give players coming out of the bench more opportunities to play and allow them to feel a bit of the NBA." He had no idea that he would be able to clean his big bench. The 13 Jazz Reservists played at least two minutes and 11 of them scored.

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After leading 39-10 after a quarter, the Jazz increased to 71-35 at half-time and, although the Kings reduced their margin in the third quarter, they led by 44 in the fourth quarter .

However, Snyder does not expect another easy game on Wednesday.

"The regular season is a totally different match from tonight," he said. "We can not expect anything to be the same. Both teams have time before the match. "

After playing at Sacramento on Wednesday, the Jazz will play their opening game at home Friday night against Golden State.