Questions loom large as Utah Jazz lose big in season opener

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Utah Jazz dropped their season-opener Wednesday, falling to the Memphis Grizzlies 123-103 at FedExForum.

An NBA debut for Darryn Peterson and homecoming for Jaren Jackson Jr. were spoiled by a red-hot shooting night for the Grizzlies.

To be fair, there wasn’t much defensive resistance provided by Utah.

The Utah Jazz fall 123-103 in the season opener.

How are you feeling, Jazz fans?

#TakeNote https://t.co/uFzjMUAD8M

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) October 22, 2026

The first quarter painted a picture that would soon be unrecognizable after the second and third quarters.

Utah won the rebound battle, made more threes, and played pretty solid defense (on everyone not named Ty Jerome).

The only constant over the next 24 minutes of basketball was Jerome, who finished with 45 points on 68 percent from the field.

The absence of point-of-attack defense was just one point on a laundry list of shortcomings in the defense and rebounding departments.

In at least some capacity, that was forecasted for this Jazz team. But it was unfortunately paired with some rough shooting nights from some of Utah’s key scorers.

The fourth quarter was closer to the first than it was the second or third, but the damage had already been done.

Will Hardy’s first words to the media in post game:

“It’s a pretty ugly game. The possession game is huge. They got 17 more shots than we did. You can almost end the discussion there.”

#TakeNote | @kslsports

— Chandler Holt (@CHoltSports) October 22, 2026

“Eye-Test” Observations

• Ace Bailey was one of the brightest spots in the season-opener, and has an argument as the Jazz’s best player in Memphis. He finished with 12 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three blocks.
• On top of the defense and rebounding woes, it felt like there were a lot of lapses in those areas that were especially untimely. In the second half, there were a few times off the top of my head that a single Jazz stop or board could’ve gone a long way in starting or continuing a comeback, but it didn’t happen.
• Some of the individual player shortcomings that have been talked about showed up pretty loudly against the Grizzlies. Jackson Jr.’s fouls, George’s defense, and the streaky shooting of Sensabaugh and Collier.
• Utah’s best two players, Markkanen and Jackson Jr., each had their own unique struggles on Wednesday. Markkanen shot just over 30 percent from the floor and JJJ had five turnovers and ended up fouling out.

The Opening Night Rotation

Head coach Will Hardy bucked the trend he set from his first four years in Utah by starting a rookie on opening night.

The Jazz’s first five were Keyonte George, Darryn Peterson, Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Jaxson Hayes.

The first sub was Ace Bailey, who was one of five bench players to hit the court in the first half. He was eventually joined by Svi Mykhailiuk, Brice Sensabaugh, Isaiah Collier, and Kyle Filipowski.

The only other player to hit the floor was Josh Okogie, who made his debut early in the fourth quarter.

Jazz vs. Grizzlies Quick Hits

• Two stats stand out to me from Cleaning the Glass’ game recap. The Jazz went 0/6 on long mid-range jumpshots and had a 10.9 percent OREB%, which was the worst percentage posted across the first 14 games of the NBA season.
• The Grizzlies had 12 more points in the paint, 11 more second chance points, and 14 more fastbreak points.
• The Utah Jazz return to Salt Lake City to take on the New Orleans Pelicans in the team’s home opener on Friday, October 23. That game tips off at 7:30 p.m. (MT).

Chandler Holt is a Utah Jazz insider for KSLSports.com and co-host of the Jazz Notes podcast. Follow Chandler on X for Jazz and NBA updates.

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