Thunder Fall To The Jazz In Season Opener; 107-86

Rudy Gobert had 16 points and 21 rebounds to lead the Utah Jazz to a 107-86 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.

Six different players scored in double figures for the Jazz in their season-opening win. Bojan Bogdanovic led the way with 22 points. Jordan Clarkson added 18.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 18 points and Darius Bazley added 15 to lead the Thunder. Oklahoma City led only once after scoring the game’s first basket.

Things spiraled out of control quickly for the Thunder after they pulled within a basket, 13-11, on a 3-pointer from Luguentz Dort.

Dort’s outside basket turned out to be the only field goal in a five-minute stretch for Oklahoma City. Utah took advantage of the shooting drought and opened a double-digit lead late in the first quarter. The Jazz led by as many as 11 in the quarter, going up 27-16 on back-to-back baskets from Gobert.

Clarkson kept Oklahoma City’s defense on its heels during the second quarter. He tallied 10 points in the quarter and his floater gave Utah its biggest first-half lead at 43-24.

The Thunder whittled the deficit down to 12 by halftime but drew no closer. Utah opened the third quarter with a 12-1 run bookended by 3-pointers from Donovan Mitchell to carve out a 66-43 lead. Mitchell scored 12 of his 16 points in the quarter.

TIP-INS

Thunder: Josh Giddey collected a team-high 10 rebounds while Jeremiah Robinson-Earl finished with 10 points off the bench. Both players made their NBA debuts. … The Thunder went 3-of-26 from 3-point range in the first three quarters. They missed 17 straight 3-pointers in that stretch.

Jazz: Gobert collected 11 more rebounds than the next closest player on either team. … Hassan Whiteside collected 10 rebounds in his Jazz debut. … Utah finished with no fastbreak points.

UP NEXT

Thunder visit Houston on Friday.

Jazz visit Sacramento on Friday.