The NBA regular season hit the play button last night with the Knicks-Celtics and Timberwolves-Lakers.

20 other teams will take the hardwood for the first time in the regular season for the 2024-2025 year of hoops, your very own Utah Jazz included.

Utah fans will likely have a season consisting of dreaming about future lottery picks and drumming up mock trades, but most are excited to witness the newest youth movement in Salt Lake City.

You could be excited to see potential growth from Keyonte George and Taylor Hendricks.

Or maybe your hoping that Cody Williams is a better Pascal Siakam.

Some will just be excited to see Lauri Markkanen hold down the franchise for the foreseeable future.

Maybe fans are just excited that “purple is back” but in a more real sense this time.

The season tipping off will have something for every basketball fan, even those here in Utah (just don’t look at the power rankings.)

When the Utah Jazz and Memphis Grizzlies tip off at the Delta Center at 7:00 Utah time, the Jazz will look to avoid back to back opening season losses since they lost 4 straight season openers from 2013-2017.

This comes after Utah dropped last year’s opener at the Delta Center to Sacramento, 130-114.

In fact, this gives me an idea.

Nothing gets fans more excited for a game than absolutely useless facts, and I am here to do the honors for Utah’s last 25 years of season openers.

So sit back, relax, and let me give you some information that you couldn’t pay someone enough money to listen to, but may very well impress your friends as you watch the Jazz and Grizzlies go at it tonight.

Warning: Do not use this as a topic while on a date!

The last 25 seasons span back to 1999, in which Utah has never opened the season against the Memphis or Vancouver Grizzlies.

The most common season opening opponent has been Northwest division foe, the Denver Nuggets.

Utah has opened the year against Denver 5 times in the past 25 years.

Utah has won 3 of those 5 contest.

The most recent match up was to start the 2022-2023 season, a 123-102 Utah win.

Utah and Denver squared off three consecutive season openers from 2008-2011.

Three times in those 25 years the Jazz have drawn the Oklahoma City Thunder and 3 times they've gone up against Portland, once again all northwest division adversaries.

Utah went 2-1 against both those teams giving them a 7-4 record when playing a division opponent to start the year.

Speaking of records, Utah is 14-11 in the last 25 years for home openers.

At home in the cozy confines of the Delta Center, Utah is 11-5 in regular season home openers.

They had regular season openers coincide with home openers for 4 straight years back in 2003-2007 and won all four.

Away games have been less kind to Utah with the Jazz dropping 6 of their 9 road games to start a season.

From 2009 to 2012 Utah had begun three straight seasons on the road, twice in Denver, and once in Los Angeles. All three games would be Utah losses.

The Jazz are 11-5 in season openers in which they score more than 100 points in this time span.

Utah’s largest home opening win in the past 25 years was a 26 point victory over the Lakers in 2004.

Utah’s largest loss in the same time period was two separate 25 point losses in New Orleans in 2002 and in Los Angeles against the Lakers in 2011.

Utah has played one overtime game in the last 25 years of openers, all the way back in 2001 when hosting the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Jazz would run out of steam in that overtime period losing 119-112.

In regards to the Buck’s Eastern Conference, Utah has only opened the season against an Eastern foe two times since 1999.

The aforementioned Bucks game and a trip out to Detroit in 2015, another Jazz loss.

With Memphis coming to town, it paints a familiar scene for most Jazz fans.

A home opener as a season opener, a western conference foe and hopefully a Utah victory.

Anyway here’s the full list of season openers for Utah in the past 25 seasons, see if you can spot a bit of nostalgia and be sure to impress your fans with these extra cool, super unique, not weird at all facts.

23-24 VS SACRAMENTO 130-114 LOSS

22-23 VS DENVER 123-102 WIN

21-22 VS OKC 107-86 WIN

20-21 @ PORTLAND 120-100 WIN

19-20 VS OKC 100-95 WIN

18-19 @ SACRAMENTO 123-117 WIN

17-18 VS DENVER 106-96 WIN

16-17 @ PORTLAND 113-104 LOSS

15-16 @ DETROIT 92-87 LOSS

14-15 VS HOUSTON 104-93 LOSS

13-14 VS OKC 101-98 LOSS

12-13 VS DALLAS 113-94 WIN

11-12 @ LA LAKERS 96-71 LOSS

10-11 @ DENVER 110-88 LOSS

09-10 @ DENVER 114-105 LOSS

08-09 VS DENVER 98-94 WIN

07-08 @ GS 117-96 WIN

06-07 VS HOUSTON 107-97 WIN

05-06 VS DALLAS 93-82 WIN

04-05 VS LA LAKERS 104-78 WIN

03-04 VS PORTLAND 99-92 WIN

02-03 @ NEW ORLEANS 100-75 LOSS

01-02 VS MILWAUKEE 119-112 OT!!!! LOSS

00-01 VS LA CLIPPERS 107-94 WIN

99-00 VS LA LAKERS 91-84 LOSS

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