After a grueling road trip which saw the Utah Jazz go 2-3, the team was back at Vivint, in their sunset city jerseys and court nonetheless, and hosted the surprisingly hot Sacramento Kings. The return home didn’t go as planned as the Jazz lost 119-110.

Credit to Utah for Sacramento’s Big Start

Prior to the game, Sacramento head coach Dave Joerger was asked about his team’s solid start (10-8). Ironically enough, it was the Jazz he gave credit to. Joerger said that the Jazz “were a huge part of (our success). We appreciated that 41-point drubbing in the preseason.” He even commented on opening night’s matchup, saying, “We didn’t get beat by 40, but we didn’t get beat by 20 either. It was a good game. It was a (close) game and that just gave our guys a lot of confidence that this can happen for us.”

It “happened” for Sacramento’s on Thanksgiving Eve.

Cold Shooting

In the first quarter, the Jazz started out 1 of 8 from 3-point range while the Kings hit four of their first five to take an early double-digit lead. Specifically, Iman Shumpert, a career 34 percent shooter from deep, hit two in the game’s first three minutes.

The shooting woes for the Jazz continued up ’til halftime, but the Jazz hit a deep bomb on four straight possessions in the third quarter to get back into the ball-game. Consequently, going into the final stanza, the Jazz were down by one, 84-83. By the end of the night, however, the stat sheet showed Sacramento 11 of 25 from downtown compared to the Jazz’s 12-of-38 line.

A Positive

To read more, published by The Deseret News, click here.