UTAH – The Utah Jazz pulled off a stunner to start their 2022-2023 NBA season campaign via a 123-102 domination of the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night (Thursday in the Philippines) at the Vivint Smart Arena in Salt Lake City.
Collin Sexton top-scored with 20 points to go with five rebounds and two assists, while Lauri Markkanen and Rudy Gay chipped in 17 and 16 points, respectively, for the Jazz.
Malik Beasley and Mike Conley had 15 and 13 points, respectively. Walker Kessler had double-double 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Filipino-American Jordan Clarkson had 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.
The Jazz were parading a revamped roster into the 2022-2023 NBA Season after trading away stars Donovan Mitchell to Cleveland Cavaliers, Rudy Gobert to Minnesota Timberwolves and Bojan Bogdanovic to Detroit Pistons.
The Jazz, however, hardly showed signs of a ragtag team as it cruised to a 75-53 first half advantage against the playoffs contender Nuggets behind the hot shooting of Markkanen, Beasley, Gay, Sexton and Kelly Olynyk.
The Nuggets threatened in the second half as they cut the deficit to as low as 98-105 but back-to-back three pointers by Gay and Beasley followed by consecutive points from Sexton secured the win for the Jazz.
Nikola Jokić ended with 27 points, Aaron Gordon had double-double 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Michael Porter Jr., Jamal Murray and Bones Hyland had 15, 12 and 10 markers, respectively, for the Nuggets.
Paolo Banchero had a solid NBA debut but Orlando Magic suffered a close 113-109 defeat to Detroit Pistons over at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
Banchero, the no.1 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Rookie Draft, tallied 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two blocks as against four turnovers in his first-ever NBA game for Orlando.
But Banchero was outshone by fellow rookies Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren of the Pistons, who came up with clutch conversions to carry Detroit to a winning start this season.
Ivey, the no. 5 pick in the recent draft, tallied 19 markers, four rebounds, three assists and three steals, while fellow rookie Duren had double-double 14 points and 10 rebounds for Detroit.
BOX SCORE:
UTAH 123 — Sexton 20, Markkanen 17, Gay 16, Beasley 15, Conley 13, Kessler 12, Clarkson 10, Olynyk 8, Vanderbilt 7, Horton-Tucker 3, Alexander-Walker 2, Fontecchio 0, Bolmaro 0, Agbaji 0.
DENVER 102 — Jokić 27, Gordon 22, Porter 15, Murray 12, Hyland 10, Brown 8, Green 6, Caldwell-Pope 2, Jordan 0, Smith 0, Reed 0, Braun 0, Watson 0, Cancar 0,
Quarterscores: 37-30, 75-53, 94-80, 123-102./PN
