Utah Jazz: Takeaways from opening night against the Denver Nuggets

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - OCTOBER 18: Ricky Rubio #3 of the Utah Jazz gestures after a first half call during their game against the Denver Nuggets at Vivint Smart Home Arena on October 18, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - OCTOBER 18: Ricky Rubio #3 of the Utah Jazz gestures after a first half call during their game against the Denver Nuggets at Vivint Smart Home Arena on October 18, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)
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SALT LAKE CITY, UT – OCTOBER 18: Ricky Rubio (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – OCTOBER 18: Ricky Rubio (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)

Alec Burks spearheads a Utah Jazz comeback victory on opening night over the Northwest Division rival Denver Nuggets.

The Utah Jazz gave their fans quite the scare on opening night as they played the majority of the first three quarters trailing the Denver Nuggets, trailing by as many as 15 points. At the close of the third quarter, Joe Johnson was able to hit a three pointer at the buzzer which cut the lead to five points.

The comeback was on from there.

The Jazz would go on to outscore the Denver Nuggets 28-13 in the fourth quarter, and would go on to win 106-96. The Jazz were led by Rudy Gobert, who finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Alec Burks scored 16 points in 15 minutes, and was a crucial component to the Jazz comeback win.

Will Barton led the Denver Nuggets in scoring with 23 points, but 21 of those points came in the first half.

Let’s look at the key takeaways from the game, and see what we learned from the opening day of basketball for this Jazz team.