The Utah Jazz are very grateful to have a NBA summer league back in Salt Lake City.
The Jazz are joined by the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and the San Antonio Spurs as the teams in the league.
The Utah Jazz were set to face the Boston Celtics on Day 1 of their summer league. Everybody was looking at the Dante Exum versus Marcus Smart battle, and it was not disappointing to say the least. They went after each other like cats and dogs.
The Jazz started the game off very well playing with lots of tempo and speed. But the Celtics eventually caught up and led after the first quarter, 25-20.
Soon after the second quarter started, Exum, who finished the game with 20 points and five assists before leaving the game late in the fourth quarter with an apparent ankle injury, took it upon himself to lead the team.
Exum did in fact lead the charge for the Jazz, scoring 12 points in the second quarter alone. The Jazz ended the first half on a 31-15 run to retake the lead going into halftime.
Boston tried to battle back in the third and fourth quarters, but the Celtics just didn't have it in them to make up for the energy the crowd was giving the hometown Jazz, as they fell by 18 points.
Marcus Smart was a bright spot for the Celtics as he dropped 26 points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out eight assists. Rodney Hood was another bright spot for the Jazz as he put up 23 points to go along with 10 rebounds (four offensive rebounds) and dishing out four assists.
Kevin Pelton of ESPN announced after the game that the Utah Jazz were a plus-31 when Dante Exum was on the court versus when he was on the bench. Exum quietly dominated this game.