- 1 Utah Jazz vs Memphis Grizzlies: a rematch five days on, and both teams on the second night of a back-to-back
- 2 Utah Jazz: 121 points allowed a night and no Jusuf Nurkic until November
- 3 Memphis Grizzlies: 2-0 on the back of Jerome and Boozer, with Zach Edey’s ankle being managed
- 4 Free NBA Prediction: Utah Jazz vs Memphis Grizzlies
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
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Utah Jazz vs Memphis Grizzlies: a rematch five days on, and both teams on the second night of a back-to-back 
Five days after Memphis beat Utah by 20 on opening night, the two teams meet again, this time at the Delta Center and with neither of them getting a night off beforehand. Tip-off is 9:00pm ET on Monday 26 October.
The first game belonged to Ty Jerome. He scored 45 points on 17-of-25 shooting, a Grizzlies record for a season opener, and Memphis won 123-103 at FedExForum. Jaren Jackson Jr., facing the franchise that traded him in February, scored 15 before fouling out.
Both teams have played once since then, and both games came down to the final seconds. Memphis trailed Golden State 106-94 with 3:47 left at Chase Center and won 111-108, with Cameron Boozer hitting the go-ahead jumper with 20 seconds to play. Utah beat New Orleans 120-119 at home when Darryn Peterson made the free throws that put the Jazz in front.
The schedule is what makes Monday harder to read than the first meeting. Utah host the Lakers on Sunday at 5:00pm ET and stay in Salt Lake City. Memphis play in Sacramento on Sunday at 9:00pm ET, then fly in overnight, so the Grizzlies carry the later finish and the travel. No spread or total had been posted at the time of writing, which is normal when both teams still have a game to play the night before.
I’d still put the defensive numbers ahead of the travel. Utah are giving up 121.0 points per game through two games, and Memphis are giving up 105.5. A tired team with a working defence usually has more margin than a rested one that can’t get stops, and that’s the basis for the pick further down.
Utah Jazz: 121 points allowed a night and no Jusuf Nurkic until November 
The Jazz have conceded 123 and 119 in their two games. The second of those still ended in a win, but a one-point home victory over a New Orleans team that’s 0-2 doesn’t change much about how often Utah are getting stops.
Jusuf Nurkic won’t help fix it on Monday. He has a partial plantar plate tear in his right second toe and isn’t expected back until around 4 November. Jaxson Hayes has taken the minutes at center, and he blocked a career-high six shots in the opener, but Utah lost the game by 20 anyway, which says something about how much the rim protection was covering for elsewhere.
Keyonte George is the offence. He’s averaging 20.5 points and 7.5 assists and has made 53.8% of his threes, and he scored 22 in Memphis and then had 19 points and 10 assists against New Orleans. Utah handed him a five-year, $157.5 million extension in September, and so far he’s played like the player that contract was written for.
Jackson Jr. is the more interesting name in this matchup. He arrived from Memphis in the February 2026 deal that sent Walter Clayton Jr., Kyle Anderson, Taylor Hendricks, Georges Niang and three future first-round picks the other way. After the 15-point, six-foul night against his old team, he bounced back with 24 points and 10 rebounds against New Orleans, and his foul count is the thing to track on Monday, because Utah’s frontcourt is thin without Nurkic.
Lauri Markkanen scored 18 in the opener and is pulling down 7.5 rebounds a game. Peterson, the No. 2 pick in June, had nine points in Memphis and then the winning free throws two nights later. Last season the teams split four games 2-2, the Jazz winning 130-126 in December and 147-101 in April.
The betting record was flat. Utah went 41-41 against the spread in 2025-26, and 45 of their 82 games went over 240.5, which fits a team that scores enough and defends rarely.
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Memphis Grizzlies: 2-0 on the back of Jerome and Boozer, with Zach Edey’s ankle being managed 
Jerome is averaging 36.5 points on 59.6% shooting through two games. The 45 against Utah was followed by 28 at Golden State, and with Ja Morant now in Portland after the 29 June trade, Memphis have handed him the ball and let him run the offence.
Boozer’s start shows why the Grizzlies were patient with him. The No. 3 pick went 2 of 15 from the field in his debut against Utah and still finished with seven points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Two days later he had 25 points and 13 rebounds at Chase Center and took the shot that won it, and he’s averaging 12.0 rebounds a game.
The question mark is Edey. He played on Friday, then was listed out for Sunday’s game in Sacramento with a left ankle issue described as a return from injury management. Memphis hadn’t given a status for Monday at the time of writing, and that matters, because Utah’s frontcourt is already short and a Grizzlies lineup with Edey at center would test it in a way a smaller group wouldn’t.
The wing rotation is in a similar place. Cedric Coward missed the Golden State game with a left wrist sprain and was questionable for Sunday. Isaiah Stewart, who joined from Detroit in the summer trade, sprained his left ankle in preseason and was given a two-week re-evaluation on 10 October.
What Memphis have shown, even with those absences, is defence. They’re allowing 105.5 points per game, and the comeback at Golden State came from a stretch in which the Warriors scored two points in nearly four minutes. Last season’s roster finished 36-46 against the spread, but most of that group has gone, and the version on the floor this week is a different team.
Probable lineup Utah Jazz: Keyonte George, Darryn Peterson, Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., Jaxson Hayes
Probable lineup Memphis Grizzlies: Ty Jerome, Cedric Coward (questionable), Jaylen Wells, Cameron Boozer, Zach Edey (status to be confirmed)
Free NBA Prediction: Utah Jazz vs Memphis Grizzlies
Our prediction: Memphis Grizzlies to win (moneyline, line not yet posted at time of writing)
Memphis won the first meeting by 20, and the gap between the teams’ defences hasn’t moved since: 105.5 points allowed per game for the Grizzlies, 121.0 for the Jazz. Utah’s center position is also weaker than it was on opening night, with Nurkic out until November.
The case against is the schedule. Memphis play later on Sunday, travel overnight and may be without Edey, while Utah sleep at home. I’ve weighed that, and I still think the team that has shut down a fourth quarter on the road is the safer side than the one that needed a last-second free throw to beat New Orleans.
Opening night was priced close to a pick’em with Memphis at home, so the Grizzlies should be available at a price well above 1.45 in Utah. If Edey is ruled out before tip-off, I’d still take Memphis, but at a smaller stake.
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