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On Thursday afternoon, Jordan Clarkson told reporters that he’d missed the last four games after multiple ankle sprains, the final one in Phoenix on April 7 being the one that became too much to ignore.
He also revealed that in early March he’d suffered a crack in his shooting hand. It wasn’t something that the medical staff or doctors were too worried about, and he used the All-Star break to get the swelling to go down and felt pretty good after having some time off recently.
Clarkson wasn’t trying to give any sort of an excuse for his shooting efficiency declining or for any Jazz losses, he was just making the point that everyone is playing through some form of discomfort right now.
“I’m not making no excuses at all,” he said. “That’s just part of the game.”
There are 31 days left in the 2020-21 season and the Jazz have 17 more games to play, including three more back-to-back sets. It’s already been a grueling season with a jam-packed schedule, and it’s not going to get any easier.
There’s probably not a single player on the Jazz that would be willing to say that they are feeling 100% healthy and rested. That would be the case this late in a normal season and with the lack of days off this year and the number of games played in a short amount of time, it’s not surprising that there are players playing through a certain amount of pain and fatigue.
“As the season progresses, I think it’s something that we’re going to continue to be mindful of,” Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said.
The Jazz, like every other team in the league, want to finish the season as healthy as possible, whether that means heading into the playoffs with a team that’s ready to compete or going into the offseason without too many guys needing to rehab injuries.
With that in mind, the next month and how the Jazz deal with rest, treatment and preparation is going to be just as critical as it is to get the wins necessary to secure the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
New with the Jazz
Stat of the week
In the last five games Donovan Mitchell is second in the NBA in scoring (behind only Stephen Curry), averaging 36.8 points per game and 10.8 points in fourth quarters alone.
Special edition mailbag
Q: Do the Jazz try to rest starters and get the young guys minutes the last bit of the season? — @JakeShep1285
A: I do think that the Jazz are going to rest some players here and there through the final month of the season, but I don’t think getting young guys minutes will be the motivator here at all.
The Jazz rested Royce O’Neale on Tuesday and conventional wisdom says that if they are resting O’Neale that they will also give the other high-usage players a day off here and there. In order to maintain some continuity and not lose too much steam, Quin Snyder will probably want to keep most of the rotation in as much as he can, so I wouldn’t be surprised if rest days were staggered.
If you would like to have your question answered, you can send it to me at stodd@deseretnews.com with “mailbag” in the subject line, or you can send it to me via Twitter @NBASarah with the hashtag #UtahJazzMailbag.
From the archives
This week in Jazz history
On April 18, 1991, John Stockton, in a 130-103 Jazz win over Seattle at the Salt Palace, dished out 11 assists to finish the 1990-91 season with 1,164 assists, breaking his own NBA record for assists in a season set the previous year.
Extra points
- Jordan Clarkson plans to play Friday after four games off but is dealing with a number of injuries (Deseret News)
- The Utah Jazz have a 25-3 record at home this season, despite having relatively few fans in the seats. How? (Salt Lake Tribune)
- NBA roundtable: Who deserves more attention as serious championship contenders? (USA Today)
Around the league
Jamal Murray is out for the season after the Denver Nuggets guard tore his ACL.
LaMarcus Aldridge abruptly retired from NBA after irregular heartbeat health scare.
Up next
Apr. 16 | 1 p.m. | vs. Indiana Pacers | NBATV/AT&T Sportsnet
Apr. 17 | 2:30 p.m. | at Los Angeles Lakers | ESPN/AT&T Sportsnet
Apr. 19 | 8 p.m. | at Los Angeles Lakers | ESPN/AT&T Sportsnet
Apr. 21 | 6 p.m. | at Houston Rockets | AT&T Sportsnet
Apr. 24 | 7 p.m. | vs. Minnesota Timberwolves | NBATV/AT&T Sportsnet