Sacramento Kings @ Utah Jazz
Wednesday, October 25, 2023 at 9:00 PM ET
Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT | Game ID: 22300072
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
UTA 24 34 29 27 114SAC 32 40 33 25 130
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Harrison Barnes scores 33, powers Kings past Jazz 130-114 in season opener
SALT LAKE CITY -- — Harrison Barnes scored 33 points to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 130-114 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams.
Domantas Sabonis added 22 points and 12 rebounds and De’Aaron Fox chipped in 18 points for the Kings. Malik Monk dished out a team-high seven assists off the bench.
Sacramento buried Utah from the perimeter, knocking down 19 of 51 3-pointers. The Kings shot 46% from the field overall.
The Jazz played a zone trying to contain Sabonis around the basket. It led to plenty of open looks for Barnes and other shooters.
"We saw it a lot last year,” said Kings forward Keegan Murray , who made four 3s and finished with 15 points. “We were able to go through that film and find different things that worked, and we just put those to work today, and we were able to see a lot of shots go in.”
Jordan Clarkson led the Jazz with 24 points and six assists. Lauri Markkanen tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds and John Collins finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds in his Utah debut.
The Jazz had won six straight season openers. Utah has now dropped four of its last five regular season games against Sacramento.
Perimeter shooting made all the difference both ways. The Jazz attempted 23 fewer 3-pointers than the Kings and knocked down 10 fewer outside baskets.
“That’s a moment where the math is against you,” Utah coach Will Hardy said. “I think in general we really struggled in transition to get matched and to contain the ball. Our communication was not very sharp.”
Barnes knocked down his first eight shots — including four 3-pointers — and scored 27 points before halftime. The veteran forward went 10 of 11 from the field in the first half.
Barnes offered a preview of what lay ahead when he made four baskets to spark a 10-0 run that put Sacramento up 32-21 late in the first quarter. Utah missed five shots and committed four turnovers over a four-minute scoreless drought, opening a door for Barnes and the Kings.
Sacramento led by as many as 19, going ahead 69-50 after Barnes and Sabonis combined for seven baskets in a four-minute stretch of the second quarter.
“Defensively, we didn’t make it tough on them tonight,” Clarkson said.
Utah cut the deficit to 74-65 early in the third quarter behind back-to-back layups from Talen Horton-Tucker and Walker Kessler but drew no closer.
Sacramento regained a double-digit lead on a 3-pointer by Fox and eventually led by as many as 23 points in the fourth quarter.
“It’s important just from a confidence standpoint to go out there and start the season the right way, especially getting a win on the road,” Barnes said. “In order to be a good team, you have to win on the road.”
Sacramento coach Mike Brown did not talk about his team’s win in his postgame remarks, choosing instead to express his sorrow over a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine that left at least 16 dead.
“It’s sad that we sit here and watch this happen time after time after time after time and nobody does anything about it,” Brown said. “It’s a sad day for our country. It’s a sad day in this world.”
UP NEXT
Kings: Host Golden State on Friday. Sacramento went 1/3 in the season series against the Warriors last year.
Jazz: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. The Clippers have lost 11 straight regular season games in Utah.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
UTABS B. Sensabaugh
CS C. Sexton
JC J. Clarkson
JC J. Collins
KD K. Dunn
KG K. George
KO K. Olynyk
LM L. Markkanen
LS L. Samanic
OA O. Agbaji
OY O. Yurtseven
SF S. Fontecchio
TH T. Hendricks
TH T. Horton-Tucker
WK W. Kessler
SACAV A. Vezenkov
CD C. Duarte
CJ C. Jones
DF D. Fox
DM D. Mitchell
DS D. Sabonis
HB H. Barnes
JF J. Ford
JM J. McGee
KE K. Edwards
KH K. Huerter
KM K. Murray
MM M. Monk
UTA/SAC the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur