SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 Sports) – It was purple raining three at Vivint Arena Wednesday night, as the Utah Jazz stunned the Denver Nuggets in the season opener, 123-102.
Collin Sexton led seven Jazz players in double figures with 20 points, while Lauri Markkanen added 17, as Utah shot 51 percent from the field in the victory.
Will Hardy won his first game as Jazz head coach.
Rudy Gay scored 16 points, Malik Beasley had 15 and Mike Conley, the lone returning starter, had 13 as Utah had seven players in double-figure scoring. Rookie Walker Kessler had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and the Jazz shot 50.6% from the field.
Nikola Jokic scored 27 points and Aaron Gordon had 22 for Denver.
The Jazz, as might be expected with a young team with 10 new additions, nearly unraveled after leading comfortably most of the game. A series of turnovers and missed rotations allowed the Nuggets to claw back from 24 points down.
Jokic, the two-time reigning Most Valuable Player, brought the Nuggets back to 105-98 on a running hook.
But Gay and Beasley made back-to-back 3-pointers while the Nuggets shook their heads and Beasley did an extended shimmy.
Key players Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. are back from injuries but the Nuggets looked rusty, especially on defense as they allowed a 14-0 run to start the second quarter and 27-7 overall surge that out the Jazz in command.
When Sexton hit a 3-pointer late in the second quarter, the Jazz led 68-44. Despite Gordon’s 16 points and Jokic’s 14, the Nuggets trailed 75-53 and the Jazz left for the halftime break to a standing ovation from a stunned, yet energized crowd.
The Jazz next hit the road to take on former teammate Rudy Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday night.
Jazz roll in season opener over Denver, 123-102
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