The Utah Jazz found their way to a humbling 103-123 opening night loss vs. the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday that now starts them at 0-1 to kick their new season off.
And in the midst of the Jazz's opening night blowout in Memphis, there turned out to be a select few players that wound up having a pretty successful performance on their part, all things considered.
Then, there were also a few others around Utah's roster that had a pretty bleak day for one reason or another, as you'd expect for many to have en route to a 20-point defeat.
So with that in mind, let's sort through some of the Jazz roster's three biggest winners and losers within their latest road loss to the Grizzlies:
Winner: Ace Bailey
The Jazz opted to bring Ace Bailey off the bench for their first game of the new year. But if he continues to play at this level as a two-way impact player, it'll be hard to keep him there.
Bailey chipped in for 12 points on 5-11 shooting from the field, paired that with five rebounds and three assists, while also making an impact on the defensive end by using his length for a whopping three blocks. That defensive effort is really what shined for head coach Will Hardy after the loss.
— Utah Jazz On SI (@JazzOnSI) October 22, 2026Jazz head coach Will Hardy on Ace Bailey in Utah's season opener vs. Memphis:
🗣️ "I think his defense is standing out. He's super active. Length, pursuing, his conditioning is so much better than it was last year."
"I thought Ace had a good all-around game tonight." pic.twitter.com/i4MvP4F1Zy
The Jazz are going to need to step it up on the defensive side of the ball this season, especially after what we just saw last night in Ty Jerome's 45-point performance. Perhaps Bailey can be the catalyst to getting Utah right on that end en route to a big-time second-season pro.
Loser: Jaren Jackson Jr.
You can't draw up Jaren Jackson Jr.'s homecoming to Memphis as much of a positive result. Not only did his new team get blown out of the water by 20 points on the road, but he also did not play too hot individually.
He shot well from the field at 60% on 10 shots, but he got into some quick foul trouble and recorded six personal fouls within just 28 minutes of game time; three of which came on the offensive side of the ball. Pair that with five total turnovers, and the end result looks even uglier.
To be fair, this is only Jackson Jr.'s fourth game played with the Jazz since he's been traded. Better days are ahead, but this game certainly wasn't one of them.
Winner: Keyonte George
Keyonte George started off his fourth season in the league picking up right where he left off from his vastly-improved 2025-26 campaign. He started the game off with a quick eight points in less than five minutes, then finished the night with a team-high 22 points on 7-12 shooting with three rebounds and five assists.
George also looked a bit better on the defensive side of the ball as well; an area of his game that's been largely criticized over his first three seasons in the league, but may now finally be starting to turn a corner after another full offseason of growth.
The Jazz's defense as a collective still certainly had its lapses, most notably on the perimeter. But if George can keep holding his own on that side of the floor, the results will soon come to follow. His supporting cast simply has to carry their weight as well.
Loser: Lauri Markkanen
Lauri Markkanen came into this season fresh off of one of his more impressive and efficient scoring years of his career back in 2025-26. But this was one of those games where the shot just wasn't falling for the Jazz's star forward.
He did end with 18 points, which is good for second on the roster behind only Keyonte George. But it was also done shooting 4-13 from the field, and a brutal 1-7 from three-point range. He also had three turnovers, which isn't typically in Markkanen's nature.
Just like in Jackson Jr.'s case, better days are ahead for Markkanen. We know how talented of a scorer he can be when he's firing on all cylinders. But even some of the league's greatest shooters can have off-nights, and that's exactly what happened for the Finnisher on Wednesday in Memphis.
Winner: Svi Mykhailiuk
It can't come as too much of a surprise that Svi Mykhailiuk found his way into a key rotational role with the Jazz's second unit on game one of 82.
Throughout the first half of last season in Utah, Will Hardy loved to deploy Mykhailiuk as a stable plug-and-play veteran on the wing for around 15-20 minutes a night, and that mindset clearly hasn't changed this season.
Mykhailiuk was one of the Jazz's first subs off the bench who landed 19 total minutes on the night, and played really solid in the opportunity he had: 10 points on 80% shooting from the field with three steals is nothing to scoff at. And we should continue to expect seeing Mykhailiuk on the floor moving deeper into this season.
Loser: Brice Sensabaugh
A lot of eyes were on Brice Sensabaugh heading into this season as a potential breakout scorer for the Jazz as someone who could instantly check in off the bench and provide some high-level shot-making when necessary.
In his season debut, though, Sensabaugh didn't quite show out on the offensive end as expected. He finished his 14 minutes with two total points on 1-4 shooting from three, and tied with the lowest plus-minus off the bench at minus-10.
A long season lies ahead for Sensabaugh to get the shot clicking. And there were certainly to be several nights this year in which he does light things up as a scorer. However, this game against the Grizzlies just wasn't that.
Add us as a preferred source on Google