4 of the most important early-season games on the Utah Jazz’s schedule

The Utah Jazz schedule is out, what are the most important games early on?

The 2023-24 NBA Regular Season schedule has been released for all 30 teams, including the Utah Jazz. The schedule makers at NBA HQ didn’t do the Utah Jazz any favors in the early part of the upcoming season, as they have the 2nd hardest schedule over their first 10 games, behind only the Warriors, per ESPN’s Kevin Pelton.

Also, they play 14 of their first 19 games against teams that were either in the playoffs or the play-in-tournament last season. As if that wasn’t enough, the Jazz have 4 sets of back-to-backs over the first 19 games.

Will Hardy and his staff may have their work cut out for them, with the tough early schedule and find out how John Collins meshes with the existing Jazz players. Also, where do the rookies fit into the rotation, and how much will they play? Especially against more veteran teams who will look to exploit their inexperience.

Several of the teams the Jazz face early on will be breaking in new lineups, so with much of the Jazz core returning, they will have some advantages against teams who need time to figure things out early on in the year.

In a crowded Western Conference that might be better than a year ago, the Jazz will need to start well and maintain momentum through the early months if they want to contend for the playoffs or play-in at the end of the season.

With that in mind, let’s look at the top 4 early-season games on the Jazz calendar and why they are important: