The Utah Jazz dropped to 8-15 in this 2025-26 season following a 131-101 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Delta Center on Sunday. The Jazz looked to have a shot at pulling off an upset here as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had joined the likes of Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, and Isaiah Hartenstein on the sidelines, but it was evident fairly early on that this wouldn’t be their night.
The Thunder jumped out to a 10-1 lead in the opening minutes, and to say Jazz head coach Will Hardy wasn’t happy with what he was seeing from his team would be an understatement. Hardy called a timeout and ripped into his players for not playing hard.
“I’m tired of f***ing doing this every game,” Hardy said. “F***ing play harder.”
Will Hardy being a little bit too vocal during a timeout pic.twitter.com/TF7MuQSPvV
— Kato Pariña (@KatoParinaSLC) December 8, 2025
Unfortunately for Hardy, things wouldn’t get much better. The Jazz would only make their first field goal of the game with 8:22 left in the first quarter. By the time the period was over, the Thunder led 45-20. The game was all but over at that point.
The Thunder led by as many as 42 points on the night, and this was a terrible loss for the Jazz. It should be pointed out, though, that the visitors weren’t the only ones missing key players.
The Jazz were without Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler, arguably their two best players. Markkanen missed the game due to illness, while Kessler, of course, is out for the season because of a torn labrum.
Kyle Filipowski led the way in their absence with 21 points (10-14 FG), 10 rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Keyonte George, who has impressed this season, struggled, however, with just eight points (3-12 FG), five rebounds, three assists, and one block.
This loss was the Jazz’s second in a row and their seventh in their last 10 games. There was a little bit of optimism in Utah when the team got off to a 2-1 start, but that is gone now.
Hardy had taken over as head coach in 2022, and he’s now staring at a fourth straight losing season. You can’t be too hard on the 37-year-old, though, as he hasn’t really been given a good enough team to compete with the heavyweights in the Western Conference.
Hardy and the Jazz now get a little bit of a break as they are only in action next against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum on Friday at 8 PM ET.
