Taking a step forward this season might be more complicated for the Utah Jazz than expected.
Questions already surround the Jazz entering their Friday home opener against the New Orleans Pelicans following an ugly loss in the season opener.
Utah fell 123-103 at Memphis on Wednesday night. Fueled by a career-high 45 points on 17-of-25 shooting from Ty Jerome, the Grizzlies led throughout the final three quarters.
The Jazz committed 18 turnovers and were outscored 23-9 in fastbreak points. They were also outrebounded 55-38 and outscored 58-46 in the paint.
“The possession game is huge in our league now,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “They got (18) more shots than we did. You can almost end the discussion there. They beat us up on the glass pretty hard.”
For Utah, the result against Memphis looked eerily familiar to losses that peppered a lengthy rebuilding phase following the trades of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. It was supposed to be a different story for the Jazz this season.
After trading for Jaren Jackson Jr. last season and drafting Darryn Peterson over the summer, Utah signaled it was ready to be a playoff contender again. The climb to return to the NBA playoffs appears steeper than anticipated, though.
Peterson had a quiet night in his NBA debut. The rookie guard tallied nine points, four rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes but took only one shot after halftime.
“I think he had some moments early that were nice, but we got to continue to improve execution and there’s a lot going on,” Hardy said. “He’s a rookie.”
New Orleans is also searching for answers after a second-half collapse left the Pelicans with a 123-120 season-opening loss to visiting Indiana on Wednesday. Tyrese Haliburton had 23 points and 12 assists in his first game for the Pacers since rupturing his Achilles tendon 16 months ago.
Dejounte Murray scored 23 points and Zion Williamson put up 22 for New Orleans.
Poor defense and questionable offensive decisions in the fourth quarter undid a strong second quarter that gave the Pelicans a 66-56 halftime lead. New Orleans outscored Indiana 35-18 in the second quarter, as Williamson scored eight points in the final minute.
“I feel bad that we let one get away,” Murray said. “We controlled the game.”
The Pacers turned offensive mistakes and transition defensive lapses into opportunities. Indiana converted 15 takeaways into 16 points and outscored the Pelicans 27-10 in fastbreak points.
“For the most part, we played pretty good, but we had some small breakdowns, and in a three-point game, those small breakdowns make the difference,” first-year New Orleans coach Jamahl Mosley said. “We’ll get that tightened.”
The Pelicans received a strong outing from third-year center Yves Missi, who compiled 13 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and three blocks and two steals.
“I thought Yves was incredible, absolutely incredible,” Mosley said.
The Pelicans have won eight straight meetings with the Jazz dating back to the 2023-24 season. New Orleans swept the season series each of the past two seasons and has won three straight over Utah in Salt Lake City.
