Gobert, Mitchell, Conley Out As Jazz Face Suns
Jan 24, 2022, 12:59 PM | Updated: 1:03 pm
Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz will be without their top three players when they travel to face the Phoenix Suns on Monday night as Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and Mike Conley are sidelined with injuries.
Mitchell has missed the team’s last three games after suffering a concussion in last Monday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and didn’t travel with the team on their current two-game road trip.
Gobert meanwhile is managing a mild calf strain that he aggravated in Sunday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors. The All-NBA center was listed as questionable before facing the Warriors due to an ankle sprain but was upgraded to available late Sunday night.
According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, Gobert will miss the Suns game but isn’t expected to be out for an extended period due to the calf injury.
Source: Jazz C Rudy Gobert is out tonight vs. Suns due to calf strain suffered late in last night’s loss to Warriors. The strain is considered mild and isn’t expected to sideline the All-NBA big man for an extended period. Jazz are also without Donovan Mitchell (concussion).
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) January 24, 2022
Gobert left the game in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter as team trainers examined his calf.
“I sprained my ankle against Houston and I played through that, but I think that put more pressure on the calf and everything else,” Gobert said after the loss. “Just a minor injury, I think we were going to be cautious, obviously, but it should be fine.”
The Jazz fell to the Warriors 94-92 as Bojan Bogdanovic’s potential game-winning three rimmed out in the final seconds. The Croatian sharpshooter is dealing with an injury of his own after landing awkwardly on his knee after a collision with Damion Lee.
The team said Bogdanovic had a left knee contusion after the loss, though the forward downplayed the injury.
“I’ll be fine,” Bogdanovic said, “I don’t know what it is, but I’ll be fine.”
Bojan Bogdanovic on his knee contusion suffered in the fourth quarter against the Warriors.
"I'll be fine, I don't know what it is, but I'll be fine."
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) January 24, 2022
Conley will also miss the game against the Suns as he manages a right knee injury.
The Jazz have had very little luck on the injury front throughout January after guard Joe Ingles entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
Among Quin Snyder’s nine-man rotation, Ingles, Gobert, Mitchell, Hassan Whiteside, and Rudy Gay have all missed multiple games since January 5.
Bogdanovic, Jordan Clarkson, Mike Conley, and Royce O’Neale, too have been sidelined during the stretch.
The Jazz now begin the week with back-to-back matchups against the league-leading Suns, before their two-game weekend road trip in Memphis and Minnesota.
Bogdanovic, Ingles, and O’Neale are listed as questionable against Phoenix, while Whiteside is not listed on the injury report after clearing COVID protocols.
