SACRAMENTO -- The Kings learned a harsh lesson Thursday evening at Golden 1 Center. The Utah Jazz is very good, and if you aren’t prepared, they’ll run you over.
A 39-point loss is a tough pill to swallow for a young Kings team. They were booed by their home crowd, and regardless of what head coach Dave Joerger attempted, things only seemed to get worse.
It was an ugly, but here are some notes from the Sacramento’s 132-93 blowout loss to the Jazz.
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There is some fight in Marvin Bagley
At times, the rookie looked lost in defensive rotations and he struggled to get his shot to fall early.
In a game that was a complete disaster for Sacramento, Bagley kept playing, finishing with 17 points and eight rebounds. His defense will take time, but expect him to produce offensively early in the season.
Don’t tell Harry Giles the score
NBA
Like Bagley, Giles continued to fight the good fight. He struggled on the glass, finishing with just three rebounds, but he scored 12 points and grabbed three steals in 18 minutes.
For a rookie with very little experience, Giles was able to make a few adjustments on the fly.
Lob city
Throw it up there and Rudy Gobert will go get it. The Kings had no answer for the alley-oop pass and the Jazz kept going to it. Gobert hit 7-of-8 from the field to score 18 points in 17 minutes.
The pick-and-roll is Utah’s bread-and-butter. If the Kings can’t watch the film and learn how to slow it down, the season opener is not going to be pretty.
Three-guard set goes horribly wrong
Joerger turned to a three-guard set to start the game, giving the lineup of De’Aaron Fox, Yogi Ferrell and Buddy Hield a look for the opening tip. The trio struggled, shooting 4-for-26 from the floor for a combined 15 points.
The small-ball lineup might make an appearance on occasion, but it’s unlikely that the Kings will start a game with this group during the regular season.
Welcome to the squad
Iman Shumpert played just 14 games last season due to knee and plantar fasciitis issues. Before Thursday, he had yet to make an appearance in a Kings uniform after coming over from the Cleveland Cavaliers in February in the George Hill trade.
Shumpert struggled with his shot on Thursday, like most of his teammates. But, he was active and made it out of the game unscathed.
Numbers game
Utah shot 60 percent on the evening to just 34.4 percent for Sacramento. The Jazz also crushed the Kings on the glass, out-rebounding them 51-34.
Sacramento went to the line a surprising 37 times, but only shot 70.3 percent from the charity stripe. The Kings also won the turnover battle, giving it away 16 times, while the Jazz had 21 turnovers. Utah led by as many as 44 points, and never trailed Sacramento.