J
James Hansen
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Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
The Jazz are learning just how hard it is to overcome missing core guys. Tonight they hope to get closer to consistency
It’s been a really rough week for everyone in Jazzland. And things are looking like they’ll be easier any time soon. Donovan Mitchell has entered concussion protocols after the Jazz’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
This is Donovan Mitchell second time being out for concussion protocols in a year. On 1/27/21 Mitchell entered concussion protocols as well. Concussions can be scary and you hope that everything is okay with Mitchell.
Joining Mitchell on the injury list is Rudy Gay with heel soreness and Hassan Whiteside continues to be in covid protocols. The good news is Jared Butler is out of covid protocols now which may be usefull since the Jazz will be down in guard minutes with Mitchell out.
The Houston Rockets are not a very good team this year, but they do have some very good young talent that could have a big game against the Utah Jazz if the Jazz don’t find a way to improve defensively. If Utah isn’t careful, Jalen Green or Alperen Sengun could have big nights against them, and we know that Eric Gordon can drop 50 points on the Jazz.
With Donovan Mitchell out and the main rotation backup bigs out, this is a nice chance for Eric Paschall to show what he can do. Paschall has been playing very well lately but despite that, he still has not found more rotation minutes with the recent return of Rudy Gay and Joe Ingles. With Gay out, Paschall will surely get some minutes in Snyder’s rotation. And the Jazz need it. Paschall has been playing very well defensively in his time on the floor and has also been scoring at an efficient clip. In his last 7 games, Paschall is shooting 60% from the field and 38% from three. It’s hard to justify keeping him off the floor right now. Tonight, at least, he’ll get more minutes.
As far as everyone else on the team, it’s not clear what rotation minutes will look like. A lot of players are out and there’s no telling what the pecking order of things are. It does make for this to be an interesting night. Maybe we’ll even get a rare sighting of Elijah Hughes? One can dream!
Game Info
When: Jan 19, 2022 - 7:00 PM MT
Where: Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
TV: ATTSN-RM, ATTSN-SW
Radio: KZNS/KTUB
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