The Utah Jazz announced today the team’s five-game 2017 preseason schedule which will feature three home games at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Utah will host NBL’s Sydney Kings from Australia in the preseason opener, marking the first game inside the newly renovated Vivint Smart Home Arena on Oct. 2. It will also be the first time an NBL team will travel to the U.S. to play against an NBA team.
The Jazz will next host Israel’s Maccabi Haifa on Oct. 4 in Utah’s second straight international preseason matchup. Also known as the “Greens” and one of the Israeli Basketball Super League’s (Israel’s top division) original eight teams, Maccabi Haifa finished the 2016-17 season as the runner-up for the league championship and has now reached the Israeli League Finals three times in the past five years. Though this will mark the first meeting between the two teams, Maccabi Haifa ranks second all-time among international basketball teams in games played (13) against NBA opponents.
Utah will then close out the preseason home schedule against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 6 before traveling to the desert for a return match at Talking Stick Arena on Oct. 9.The Jazz will wrap up the preseason slate the following night in Los Angeles against the Lakers.
The Sydney and Maccabi Haifa games will mark the first time the Jazz have ever hosted an international team during the preseason. Utah’s only previous international matchup came in Spain against Real Madrid during the 2009 preseason. The Suns are the lone opponent on the 2017 preseason schedule that was also on last year’s preseason calendar, and this will be the fourth consecutive preseason facing Phoenix. The Jazz and Lakers last played in the preseason in a pair of games in Hawaii in 2015, though this year marks the 15th overall preseason meeting between the two teams.
Preseason ticketing and broadcast information will be released at a later date.
The following is the complete 2017 Utah Jazz Preseason Schedule:
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