Jazz Injuries Keep Piling Up Ahead Of Orlando Game
Jan 9, 2019, 3:38 PM | Updated: 7:00 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz will be heavily depleted when they face the Orlando Magic, with five players recovering from injury.
Grayson Allen, Tony Bradley, Dante Exum, Ricky Rubio and Thabo Sefolosha are all listed as out for Wednesday’s contest against Orlando.
Utah Jazz Injury Update pic.twitter.com/aBPGRBnT3V
— Utah Jazz PR (@UtahJazzPR) January 9, 2019
A Situation At Point Guard
The two most impactful injuries of the bench are the two to the point guards, Rubio and Exum.
Exum was injured in Saturday’s win over Detroit and was diagnosed with a sprained ankle. Reports say that he will be out for a couple of weeks.
Ricky Rubio (mild right hamstring strain) and Thabo Sefolosha (mild right hamstring strain) both underwent MRIs today. Both will be re-evaluated in one week.
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) January 9, 2019
Rubio suffered a hamstring injury in the first quarter of Monday’s loss at Milwaukee. He is also expected to miss a couple of weeks.
In their absence, the Jazz will turn to backup guard Raul Neto to handle a good chunk of the point guard duties. They may also experiment with other players at the position, including Donovan Mitchell and Joe Ingles.
“We believe in Raul Neto, and Donovan has played some point guard before and so has Joe,” Quin Snyder said to the Deseret News’ Eric Woodyard after Monday night’s game. “We’ll figure it out. Rather than focus on that as much, I think our team has to pull together even more, which we consistently do.”
Quin Snyder called Dante Exum last night to tell him this injury is different. Quin told him his play took a noticeable step in the last month and it will pick up right where it left off when he comes back.
— David Locke (@Lockedonsports) January 7, 2019
Three More Jazz Injuries
Also injured are Allen, Bradley and Sefolosha.
Allen had been nursing a sprained ankle as well, but had not made much of an impact when he was on the floor this season. He hasn’t played since Dec. 12th and hasn’t been active for a game since Dec. 17th. In just 17 games played, he’s averaged 9.7 minutes per game and 4.1 points per game.
Bradley has spent most of the season going back and forth from the Jazz to the Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA G-League. He has found the court for the Jazz just once this season in a blowout win over the New York. Bradley played eight minutes with three rebounds and zero points in the victory.
Like Rubio, Sefolosha also experienced a hamstring strain and is expected to miss 10-12 days. The defensive specialist has also had a hard time making a difference for the Jazz this season. So far, he has career lows in minutes and points per game.
The Homestand Ahead
The Jazz will begin a four-game homestand with by hosting the Magic on Wednesday. On Friday, the Lakers, without star LeBron James will come into town followed by a visit by the Bulls on Saturday. The Jazz will wrap up the home stretch with by playing the Bulls on Monday.
