JazzSmack

Utah Jazz rookie Ace Bailey continues to look more and more comfortable on the basketball court. Even though he got off to somewhat of a slow start to his rookie year in the NBA, we are seeing improvement each game. Against the Detroit Pistons in Detroit, Ace had a nice game. He shot 3-6 from the field, 3-4 from the free throw line, played 19 minutes total and scored 9 points. He also added 4 rebounds and 1 assist.

Unfortunately for Bailey, he became sick during the preseason and that really slowed his early growth. It took a while to get over his illness and get his legs back under him. But over the last few games, he's certainly looking better.

The Jazz were able to keep this game close throughout and gave the Detroit Pistons a competitive game. Svi Mykhailuk led the way in scoring with 28 points on 10-16 shooting from the field. Lauri Markkanen scored 25 points but only shot 8-22 from the field. Jusuf Nurkic grabbed 17 rebounds, had 4 assists and 4 steals in the game. Rookie point guard Walter Clayton Jr. scored 6 points and dished out 6 assists.

Utah Jazz at Detroit Pistons Postgame - NBA Basketball

Final Score: Utah Jazz 103, Detroit Pistons 114

Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler's 2025-2026 NBA season has come to a screeching halt with a shoulder injury. Walker is not scheduled to play again until the 2060-2027 NBA season. How does this injury impact the Utah Jazz, Walker Kessler, and the other members of the Utah Jazz roster?

Walker will be a restricted free agent next summer and was looking to have a much improved year in order to prove his worth to the Utah Jazz and other NBA teams. With the injury, unfortunately for Kessler, he will now be unable have the ability to show his improvement prior to looking for a new contract.

Kyle Filipowski, Taylor Hendricks and Ace Bailey should be the young Utah Jazz players who receive an increased role with the team in terms of playing time.

Keyonte Geoge and the young Utah Jazz roster had themselves quite a night in Boston and came away with a win. Keyonte scored 31 points total and 16 in the third quarter as the Utah Jazz climbed their way back into the game after getting off to a rough start scoring the ball. Keyonte George shot 9-16 from the field, 2-5 from the three point line, and 11-13 from the free throw line. Keyonte also recorded 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Walter Clayton Jr. also had a really nice night for the Utah Jazz. Walt shot 3-4 from the field, 1-2 from the three point line, hauled in 3 rebounds, dished out 6 assists, and finished with 2 steals as well. Walt scored 7 total points.

Kyle Filipowski shot 4-7 from the field, 2-3 from the three point line, 3-5 from the free throw line, brought in 8 rebounds and scored a total of 13 points.

Ace Bailey also played 18 minutes for the Utah Jazz in Boston against the Celtics and shot 2-4 from the field, grabbed 2 rebounds and scored a total of 4 points.

Utah Jazz won the game against the Boston Celtics in Boston, 105-103. Great win for the Jazz.

Utah Jazz went on the road to Charlotte to face old friend Collin Sexton and the Charlotte Hornets. Even with Charlotte being shorthanded with a couple starters sitting out the game, any road game is a challenge for the Utah Jazz at this point in the young season. Jazz battled poor shooting in this one and finished the game 7-32 from the three point line. The young Jazz squad was outscored from the three point line by 33 points. Such a large disparity in three pointers made is difficult to overcome.

Collin Sexton had a game high 12 assists in addition to scoring 10 points. This wasn't one of Collin's better shooting game considering how well he has shot the ball so far this season, but the 12 assists on such a young team was a significant factor in the outcome of the game.

For the Jazz, Lauri again kept the game close early and finished the game with 29 points. Keyonte George, playing against his old back-court mate Collin Sexton, also had a good night scoring the basketball. Keyonte finished the game with 25 points. The other really positive play in this game was Taylor Hendricks, who started in place of Kyle Filipowski, and finished the game shooting 5-8 from the field, 2-3 from the three point line, for a total of 17 points. Taylor also grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 1 assist.

What a battle it was under the lights at the Footprint Center! The Utah Jazz dropped a 118-96 decision to the Phoenix Suns in their Emirates NBA Cup opener. Sure, the scoreboard didn't go the Utah Jazz way tonight—Phoenix jumped out to a 37-17 first-quarter lead that set the tone—but let's talk about what really mattered: the Jazz's fight-back spirit, standout individual performances, and the building blocks we're seeing from this roster.

Lauri Markkanen led the way for the Jazz with 33 points on 10-20 shooting from the field and 9-12 from the free throw line. Walker Kessler added a team high 13 rebounds. Keyonte George continued with his strong assist numbers and recorded another 9 assists to go along with 17 points. Keyonte was again hot from the free throw line, going 9-11. Cody Williams and Elijah Harkless again were given minutes and played very hard on the defensive end of the court. Cody added 8 points and Elijah added 5 points.

For the Suns, Devin Booker was a problem for the Jazz all night and ended the evening with 36 points on 13-23 from the field, including 6-9 on threes.

Final score, Utah Jazz 96 and the Phoenix Suns 118.

Utah Jazz struggled mightily for the first three quarters of the game vs the Portland Trail Blazers, but that changed drastically with the insertion of Elijah Harkless and Cody Williams to begin the 4th quarter. Those two players spearheaded a ferocious comeback beginning with vastly improved defense and the Jazz were able to take the game all the way to the wire with an opportunity to win at the end. Ultimately, Portland was able to make its free throws down the stretch and exit the Delta Center with a win. Final score, Portland Trail Blazers 136, Utah Jazz 134.

Lauri Markkanen led the Utah Jazz in scoring with 32 points. Lauri shot 10-19 from the field and also added 3 steals, 3 blocks, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.

Walker Kessler shot 7-12 from the field, hauled in 12 rebounds, dished out 4 assists and blocked 1 shot. Walker scored 18 points.

Keyonte George shot 6-14 from the field, dished out 8 assists, made 15-15 free throws, and scored a total of 29 points.

Portland was led in points by Jrue Holliday with 27. Deni Avdija scored 19, Toumani Camara scored 17, Shaedon Sharpe scored 18 and Jerami Grant scored 18.

Lauri Markkanen was on fire against the Phoenix Suns in a home game played in Salt Lake City. In a Utah Jazz win, Lauri ended the game with 51 points, 14 rebounds and 3 assists. Walker Kessler also put up huge numbers with 25 points, 11 rebounds (8 offensive), 4 assists and 4 blocked shots. Keyonte George had a nice game as well shooting 8-18 from the field for 26 points and dishing out 10 assists.

Utah Jazz are now 2-1 on the young season with 2 home wins and 1 road loss. Next Utah Jazz game is against the Portland Trail Blazers in Salt Lake City on October 29th.

For the Phoenix Suns, now 1-3 on the season (0-3 on the road), Devin Booker led the way with 34 points on 11-26 shooting from the field. Mark Williams had a huge game off the bench shooting 9-14 from the field, scoring 25 points, and grabbing 11 rebounds. Grayson Allen also scored 23 points for the Phoenix Suns.

Utah Jazz traveled to Sacramento to take on the Sacramento Kings in the Jazz's first road test of the 2025-2026 NBA season. After seeing the Utah Jazz win on opening night in Salt Lake against the Clippers, there was hope the Jazz could put forth a similar effort on the road. The team certainly didn't disappoint and played very hard, especially defensively, to keep the game close throughout.

Lauri Markkanen led the Jazz in points with 33, while shooting 12-23 from the field overall and 4-13 on three point attempts. Keyonte George added 18 points and 5-15 shooting from the field but also recorded 10 assists against only 4 turnovers. Brice Sensabaugh continues to shoot the ball very well from the field and finished 6-11 from the field, 3-7 from three, for a total of 15 points. Rookie guard Walter Clayton Jr. finished 4-7 from the field for 10 points. Walt also added 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.

This was a very positive showing by the Jazz and demonstrated that the team is able to be competitive on the defensive end of the court. We look for the strong defensive effort to continue. There's no reason the Utah Jazz franchise cannot be much better defensively than what it has shown over the past 3 seasons. For the start of this season through 2 games, the effort is much improved.

Utah Jazz opened the 2025-2026 NBA season with a home win over the visiting Los Angeles Clippers in the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. This game was never close halfway through the first quarter. It was totally lopsided for 3.5 quarter of the game and the Clippers never made a run to get back into the game.

Utah Jazz shot 55% from the field overall and 39% from the three-point line. Los Angeles Clippers on the other hand struggled to keep pace and ended the game shooting 44% from the field. Walker Kessler led the Jazz in points with 22 on 7 for 7 shooting from the field. Walker also hauled in 9 rebounds, blocked 4 shots, recorded 4 assists and even added 2 steals. Other leaders were Lauri Markkanen with 20 points and 5 assists. Brice Sensabaugh also added 20 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists on 7 for 13 shooting from the field. Keyonte George led the team in assists with 9. Rookie Walter Clayton Jr scored 10 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and added 5 assists.

Offensively, the Jazz's most significant statistic of note was the 38 assists against only 12 turnovers. That's a fantastic team statistic for the opening night of the NBA season.

The Los Angeles Clippers on the other hand must be mighty disappointed with how the night went. The franchise has high hopes for this season and to put in such a poor showing on the road in game number 1 is not the start people anticipated.

Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler made his return against the Portland Trail Blazers in the Utah Jazz's final preseason game. Kessler played very well while nearly recording a triple-double. Walker tallied 14 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks while shooting 6-9 from the field and 1-1 from the three-point line. Quite the night considering this is the first game he has played since the end of the 24-25 regular season.

This is the first preseason game the Jazz franchise has won this preseason and the regular season starts next week.

Other Utah Jazz players that played well in this win against the Portland Trail Blazers were Lauri Markkanen with 15 points and 5 assists on 6-10 shooting from the field; Keyonte George with 20 points on 7-11 shooting from the field and 3-6 from three-point range; Brice Sensabaugh with 12 points on 4-7 shooting from the field; Taylor Hendricks with 8 points on 3-4 shooting from the field and 1-1 from three-point range.

Utah Jazz begin the 25-26 NBA regular season on Wednesday at home in the Delta Center against the Los Angeles Clippers. It will be the return of John Collins and Kris Dunn to Salt Lake City.