The Philadelphia 76ers (0-2) were blown out of the building in their home opener Friday against the Utah Jazz (1-1), losing 99-71.
The Jazz jumped out to a 28-19 advantage after the first quarter and kept pouring it on throughout the contest, leading 50-33 at the break and outscoring the 76ers in the final two quarters as well. Though Utah shot just 40.9 percent from the field, they ran away with the game by winning the turnover battle by a huge margin, surrendering the ball just seven times to the Sixers’ 18 giveaways. Rodney Hood and Alec Burks led the backcourt with 17 and 15 points, respectively, while Derrick Favors secured a double-double with 20 points and 12 boards to accompany three steals and two blocks.
The 76ers compounded their turnover problems by shooting even worse than Utah from the field, submitting a 30.2 percent mark as a team. The chief offender was star center Nerlens Noel, who accrued just eight points while going 2-for-12 from the field. Philadelphia’s immense struggles earned a chorus of boos from the home crowd at multiple points in the game, a development unsurprising given the lack of progress the team has made since embarking on its massive rebuilding effort a couple years ago.
Up next for Utah is a date with the Indiana Pacers in the second game of a road back-to-back set. The Sixers will attempt to pick up their first win of the season Monday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
