OKLAHOMA CITY — Over the past two weeks, the only action Trey Lyles has seen, has been in the recent Rising Stars Challenge in New Orleans where he scored nine points in 14 minutes of action.
Since All-Star weekend, Lyles has not played a minute in Utah’s three games at Milwaukee, Washington and Oklahoma City Tuesday night. The three DNPs are more that the total number he had last year in his rookie season when he played in 80 of 82 games.
Utah coach Quin Snyder says it’s nothing to do with Lyles, rather it’s the fact that the whole team is healthy for the first time all season and veteran players are ahead of him in the rotation.
“It’s no reflection on Trey,” said Snyder. “It’s hard to play 11 or 12 guys. The biggest thing is Joe Johnson at the four is where we’ve been the best. It’s unequivocally been our best lineup. His ability to stretch the floor we’ve discovered throughout the course of the season and that Joe can defend on the post with his strength. We’ve got Boris (Diaw), Trey, Derrick (Favors) and Joe, so playing four at the 4-man is not easy to do.”
It’s not just Lyles. Last year at this time Shelvin Mack and Raul Neto were sharing the 48 minutes at point guard and now neither plays at all with George Hill and Dante Exum getting the minutes.
“I’m supposed to play everybody but I can’t,” Snyder said. “That’s the biggest thing, we’ve had guys who have to adapt to their roles and those roles have been changing all the time and sometimes that’s hard on the players. We’ve tried to settle into a rotation of late and that’s a function of how guys have performed individually and the competition among our players.”
NO GRUDGES: One of the main reasons the Jazz parted ways with Enes Kanter two years ago was the emergence of Rudy Gobert.
Although he and Kanter may not be text buddies, Gobert said he doesn’t hold any grudges about the way Kanter left the Jazz with his negative comments.
“Oh, it’s always fun to play against him,” said Gobert. “But I’m not playing against Enes, I’m focused on the team. I don’t have anything against him. He played with me but I don’t hold any grudge against him, it’s just basketball.”
Kanter played well against the Jazz Tuesday, getting 15 points and nine rebounds in 26 minutes.
JAZZ NOTES: After playing Minnesota Friday, the Jazz play Brooklyn at home Friday night before going to Sacramento Sunday afternoon . . . The Jazz come back to Oklahoma City next week for a game March 11 after a game at Houston on March 8 . . . Earlier this year, the Jazz and Thunder split a pair of games in Utah, with the Jazz winning by 20 in December and losing on a Russell Westbrook shot at the buzzer in January . . . Two nights after losing handily to the Jazz, the Washington Wizards knocked off Golden State 112-108 Tuesday night.