Shaun White, Tony Finau Among Notables At Utah Jazz Season Opener

SALT LAKE CITY – Stars popped out to see the Utah Jazz kick off their 50th anniversary season against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.

Former Olympic snowboarder Shaun White and PGA Tour golfer Tony Finau were among the notable names.

they understood the 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚕𝚎 assignment 💜🎶#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/6jv7XNzoVR

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 26, 2023

Utah Jazz part-owner Dwyane Wade was also in attendance.

Former Jazz All-Star guard Deron Williams showed up for some of the pre-game festivities as well.

A core memory from @DeronWilliams 💜#Jazz50 | @Delta pic.twitter.com/if2bgk2XLo

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 25, 2023

Despite the support from fans, the Sacramento Kings made a mess of Utah’s season opener in the Delta Center.

Outside of a small lead in the first quarter, the Jazz trailed the Kings for the entirety of the game.

However, there were still a lot of positives for Jazz fans to hang their hats on.

John Collins had an impressive debut, Jordan Clarkson and Lauri Markkanen showed off their scoring abilities, and the atmosphere in the Delta Center was great all night long.

JC: 24p | 4r | 6a
Lauri: 19p | 10r | 1a | 2s
John: 15p | 11r | 2a | 1s
Collin: 9p | 3r
Kris: 8p | 1r | 2a | 2s
Walker: 8p | 8r | 1b
THT: 8p | 1r | 4a | 1b
Keyonte: 8[ | 2r | 2a
Kelly: 5p | 6r | 4a | 1s
Ochai: 5p | 3r#TakeNote | @LVT_USA pic.twitter.com/KUCUoRk1Zw

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 26, 2023

Kings Simple Math Spoils Utah Jazz Season Opener

The Kings crushed the Jazz Wednesday night using simple analytics. They attempted 51 threes to the Jazz’s 28, making 19 threes to the Jazz’s nine.

Sacramento got into their offense early and often throughout the night, creating open looks for shooters.

“We really struggled in transition to get matched up and to contain the ball,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “Our communication was not very sharp in that area of the game.”

HB IN THE FIRST HALF 🔥

🦅 27 PTS
🦅 10/11 FG
🦅 5/5 3PT
🦅 4 REB pic.twitter.com/2UVnWmE5hS

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) October 26, 2023

Barnes, Keegan Murray, and Chris Duarte were the main culprits in the Jazz’s demise. The damage could have been much worse had Kevin Huerter, De’Aaron Fox, and Malik Monk not combined to shoot just 4-21.

Jazz starters made 7-18 threes for a healthy 38 percent, but the second unit shot just 2-10.

“When the other team shoots 23 more threes than you do, that’s one of those where the math is against you,” Hardy added.

The Kings finished the night with an offensive rating of 120.8 compared to the Jazz’s 108.7, largely thanks to their three-point shooting.

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Chandler Holt is a co-host for the Jazz Notes podcast and a Digital Sports Producer for sports.ksl.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter @ChandlerHoltKSL or on Threads @chandlerho1t.

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