Utah Jazz Power Past Perth Wildcats, 130-72
Sep 30, 2018, 4:27 AM | Updated: Oct 2, 2018, 9:03 pm
Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell drives to the basket in the Jazz's 128-67 win over the Perth Wildcats on Sept. 29, 2018. (Scott Winterton, Deseret News)
(Scott Winterton, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz opened the 2018-19 preseason on the right foot with a 130-72 win over the Perth Wildcats from Australia Saturday night at Vivint SmartHome Arena.
Off To A Hot Start
The Jazz opened the game on a 15-0 run and never looked back as they dispatched the Wildcats handily in the first game of the season. The Wildcats of the Australian NBL were heavily outmatched against the Jazz in a 58-point win for Utah.
“I think a good first effort by our guys,” said head coach Quin Snyder. “Defended well. They had some open looks early, fortunately they weren’t able to make them and I thought we were able to capitalize on some of the stops we got.”
Strong Game By Allen
Rookie Grayson Allen looked sharp on the floor and was the game’s high scorer with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including five 3-pointers made.
According to Allen, it was easy thanks to the other guys in Utah uniforms
“It felt good,” said the former Duke star. “These guys are really easy to play with, so it’s kinda seemless when you’re jumping in there with a bunch of smart basketball players and they make smart reads. Makes my job a lot easier.
Donovan Mitchell played just 21 minutes in the win, but said it was nice to be back on the floor with his teammates.
“It was fun,” said Mitchell. “It seemed a lot easier than last year just because of the year that we’ve had. I think we kind of understood where guys are going to be. We’ve been working really hard during training camp so for us to play as well as we did I think was a good time, but we have plenty we need to work on too.”
Rudy Gobert nearly finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds in just 15 minutes on the hardwood. He, like the rest of his teammates, was pleased with the performance of Allen.
“He’s playing with confidence and it’s impressive,” said Gobert.
Royce O’Neale got the start in place of Joe Ingles, who was sidelined with lower leg soreness.
Next Up
The Jazz will be back in action Tuesday night to host the Toronto Raptors at 7 p.m. at Vivint SmartHome Arena.
