Utah Jazz give Perth Wildcats a basketball lesson with 58-point lead at three-quarter time
DANTE Exum’s Utah Jazz just gave Australia an unnecessary reminder the standard of NBA is just a tad better than the NBL.
THE Utah Jazz have schooled the Perth Wildcats with an incredibly dominant 58-point thumping in their clash in Salt Lake City.
The second stop on the NBL’s tour of the US was bleak for the Australians as the Wildcats quickly fell behind, with the deficit reaching 41 points at halftime.
It was a first half horror show for the Wildcats with the Jazz flexing their muscles with a 75-34 lead at the break and the Jazz just kept going.
Pulling away again in the third, the Jazz lead 100-45 before completing the 130-72 win.
Australian Jazz star Dante Exum played 21 minutes for the Jazz and, like Ben Simmons for the Philadelphia 76ers in yesterday’s match against Melbourne United, played provider.
He dished out a game high six assists before slotting a second quarter three-pointer to open his account — his only score of the night.
Australia’s other Jazz player Joe Ingles was ruled out pre-match with lower leg soreness.
Speaking after the game, Exum said it was important for Aussie teams to test themselves on the world stage.
“It’s a really good experience for the game to grow back home,” the 23-year-old Australian said.
“We beat them by a lot but they’re competitors and they played until the last minute of this game so hats off to them.”
It was a sorry looking scorecard for the Wildcats as they went 22/84 from the field, including just 4/29 attempts from three-point range at halftime.
For the Jazz, rookie Grayson Allen scored a each scored 19 points including a remarkable 4/4 from three-point range in the first half in his first game for Utah.
He was well supported by Alec Burks who hit 18 and Rudy Gobert with 14.
The Wildcats best was American import and 2017 NBL grand final MVP Bryce Cotton with 14 points.
It was clear to everyone there was a mismatch in quality in the match and it didn’t take long for spectators to feel sorry for the Perth side.
Exum wasn’t spared some worry at his lack of time as well with it becoming noticeable in the second quarter.
And you got to love the wishful thinking from Perth.
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Originally published as Utah Jazz give Perth Wildcats a basketball lesson with 58-point lead at three-quarter time