On Saturday night, the Utah Jazz will be shorthanded versus the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Utah Jazz look to get back on track Saturday night when they face the New Orleans Pelicans in Salt Lake City. Heading into the contest, the Jazz and Pelicans will be missing some impact starters.
Lauri Markkanen (hamstring) and Jordan Clarkson (illness) are out, while Walker Kessler is probable. As for the Pelicans, Zion Williamson, Matt Ryan, and Deron Seabron are out.
All hands will be on deck for Utah, with their two top scorers out. Markkanen and Clarkson were both surprise adds to the injury report, so we’ll see what adjustments head coach Will Hardy has in store.
Jazz fans can expect backup guards Collin Sexton and Ochai Agbaji to get a spike in minutes. In part-time duty, Sexton is averaging 11.7 points in just 19 minutes per contest. Before the start of the year, Sexton was a candidate to receive starter minutes, but that hasn’t been the case due to the emergence of Keyonte George.
This will be a battle between two teams headed in opposite directions. The Jazz have dropped their last four games, including two blowout defeats versus the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers. After the Trail Blazers game, Hardy was short and to the point in his postgame press conference.
“If you’re gonna wear a Utah Jazz jersey, you have to give a s*** about the Utah Jazz,” Hardy said.
It will be interesting to see what type of effort Utah puts out moving forward and if there are any major adjustments being made to the rotation. New Orleans is currently 9-7 on the season and riding a three-game winning streak.
The Jazz opened up as a 1.5-point favorite, but with the breaking news on the injury front, the line has shifted to 3.5 points in the Pelicans’ favor. The tip-off time is at 7:30 p.m. MST.
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