{"id":80620,"date":"2025-08-19T07:18:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T07:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/80620\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T07:18:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T07:18:10","slug":"utah-jazz-fans-circle-these-2025-26-nba-games-on-the-calendar-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/80620\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah Jazz fans, circle these 2025-26 NBA games on the calendar \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">For Utah Jazz fans, the release of the 2025-26 schedule did not mean it was time to start scouring the calendar in search of the most meaningful matchups as it pertains to postseason hopes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">There\u2019s no reason to sugarcoat the situation \u2014 we\u2019re headed for another tough season filled with Jazz losses. But, there are still games on the <a href=\"https:\/\/utahjazzweb.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/0034-Schedule_Release-PDF-MT-Final_v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/utahjazzweb.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/0034-Schedule_Release-PDF-MT-Final_v2.pdf\">82-game schedule<\/a> that are worth circling.<\/p>\n<p>Return games<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The Jazz\u2019s home opener against the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 22 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/sports\/2025\/07\/07\/john-collins-three-team-trade-utah-jazz-kevin-love-kyle-anderson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/sports\/2025\/07\/07\/john-collins-three-team-trade-utah-jazz-kevin-love-kyle-anderson\/\">will bring John Collins back to Utah<\/a> for the first time since the trade that sent him westward, and on Jan. 10, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/sports\/2025\/06\/29\/collin-sexton-utah-jazz-trade-analysis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/sports\/2025\/06\/29\/collin-sexton-utah-jazz-trade-analysis\/\">Collin Sexton will be back<\/a> for the first time since the Charlotte Hornets acquired him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">But, by far the most anticipated return of the season will come on March 11 when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/sports\/2025\/04\/17\/jorda-clarkson-wants-to-win-games-utah-jazz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/sports\/2025\/04\/17\/jorda-clarkson-wants-to-win-games-utah-jazz\/\">Jordan Clarkson<\/a> and the New York Knicks visit the Delta Center. Clarkson was a fan favorite to Jazz faithful for the last six years and broke the Jazz\u2019s triple-double drought in 2024. He\u2019ll definitely enjoy a warm welcome in his return.<\/p>\n<p>Rising stars<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Fans will certainly pack the arena to see the usual superstar players like LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic. But the up-and-coming, young stars of the league could provide some of the most exciting games of the season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">You\u2019ll want to mark your calendars for days when the Jazz play the San Antonio Spurs (Dec. 27, Jan. 19, Jan. 22), Dallas Mavericks (Jan. 8, Jan. 15, Jan. 17), Philadelphia 76ers (March 4, March 21) and Washington Wizards (March 5, March 25).<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">These games will pit the Jazz\u2019s young team against the likes of Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Cooper Flagg, V.J. Edgecombe, Jared McCain, Alex Sarr and Tre Johnson.<\/p>\n<p>Lottery sweepstakes<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Much like last season, games against the other lottery-bound teams could end up mattering quite a bit for the Jazz.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">As they look toward another losing season with hopes of landing a top-tier rookie \u2014 like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/sports\/2024\/12\/10\/byu-basketball-aj-dybantsa-recruit-hoops-talks-fresno-cougars\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/sports\/2024\/12\/10\/byu-basketball-aj-dybantsa-recruit-hoops-talks-fresno-cougars\/\">AJ Dybantsa<\/a>, Darryn Peterson or Cam Boozer \u2014 the Jazz will want to lose games against the other bottom-dwelling teams in the NBA.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">So pay close attention to games against the Wizards, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets and any other team that emerges with potential for capturing the worst record of the season.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.41;background-color:#F3F1F0;cursor:pointer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/4CQV63ZAEBFL3JDXEKHFCMRZBI.JPG\"  width=\"800\" height=\"568\"\/>AJ Dybantsa, the nation&#8217;s No. 1 basketball recruit, is presented at halftime of the BYU and Fresno State game at the Marriott Center in Provo on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Utah Jazz fans, the release of the 2025-26 schedule did not mean it was time to start&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,3166,82],"class_list":["post-80620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-news-feed-local","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}