SALT LAKE CITY — Will Hardy wants his team to flip the narrative.
Yes, the Utah Jazz are young — and that comes with its share of disadvantages. But Hardy sees it differently.
“We can’t only look at the downsides of youth,” he said. “Sure, there are moments we haven’t been in as a group, and there’s a lack of experience in certain situations, but we should be an energetic team. We want to be the best-conditioned team in the league. We want to flip the narrative on its head. There are negatives to being young, but there are also a lot of positives.”
For one night, at least, consider that narrative flipped.
The energetic, youthful Jazz blasted the veteran LA Clippers 129-108 to open the 2025–26 season. And if first impressions mean anything, this group might not be as bad as many predicted.
Utah delivered a masterclass in the first quarter, racing out to a 43-19 lead on the visitors.
Everything clicked in those opening 12 minutes.
Lauri Markkanen slipped around screens for easy buckets at the rim; Walker Kessler dominated as a roller — and even knocked down a pair of threes; Keyonte George kept the ball moving, and crisp big-to-big passing led to a steady stream of high-percentage shots; Walter Clayton Jr. looked every bit like the player who led Florida to a national title last spring.
It was a dream quarter — full of bench celebrations and capped by a standing ovation from much of the Delta Center crowd.
“I’m kind of more curious about how it was like for the fans,” Kyle Filipowski said of the opening stanza. “I mean, I’m sure they loved it, and I’m sure they were a little starstruck, too.”
Because, yes, the Jazz might have surprised even themselves with how dominant they were to open the year.
“It was great. It was a big confidence boost for us, and it kind of just also shows and reflects all the work we’ve been putting in the summer and this preseason,” Filipowski said. “We aren’t here to just go through a season again. We’re here to compete and we’re here to win games.”
They already got one in the win column.
Kessler finished with 22 points and nine rebounds, Markkanen added 20 points, and George chipped in 16 points and nine assists. The Jazz totaled 38 assists to just 12 turnovers — a stat Hardy will surely love.
“It was a heck of a team win,” Hardy said.
And it was reflective of how the Jazz want to play — high energy on defense, quick to run in transition, lots and lots of passing, and unrelenting intensity.
That identity was forged this summer through grueling workouts and reinforced during training camp. The Jazz may not be the most talented or experienced team, so Hardy made sure they’d be among the best-conditioned.
“Honestly, I’ve never had a camp like we’ve had since I’ve been the NBA,” George said. “So he pushed us to our limits. It made the game real easy.”
It looked easy.
And fun, too.
Utah led by as much as 37 and never allowed the Clippers to mount a serious comeback.
The reason for that? Perhaps the best defensive performance of the Hardy era.
After ranking last in the NBA in defensive efficiency the past two seasons, the Jazz looked transformed. They swarmed to the ball, clogged passing lanes, and used their size to dominate the paint. Starting an all-big frontcourt of Markkanen, Filipowski, and Kessler, Utah held the Clippers to 44% shooting and recorded 11 steals.
“We were just flying around; we were flying around. We were in the right spots at the right time,” Kessler said. “We did a great job of covering the low man. It’s just a lot of fun.”
Winning is plenty of fun, too.
And if the Jazz string together a few more nights like Wednesday’s, perception around the team will start to truly change.
Because for one night, at least, the Jazz flipped the narrative.
“I want our team, I want our fans, I want everybody to focus on who we are right now, because I think there’s a lot to be proud of,” Hardy said.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
