Keyonte George injury is the latest blow to the Jazz

The rookie will have an MRI on Thursday and will not travel with the team to Portland.

Published: Dec 13, 2023, 11:21 p.m. MST

Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) hops in pain after suffering an apparent injury as the Utah Jazz and the New York Knicks play at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. George took himself out of the game and left the floor. Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Sarah Todd covers the NBA and Utah Jazz for the Deseret News.

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The Utah Jazz didn’t have much time to waste after their 117-113 win over the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.

It’s a tight turnaround with the second game of a back-to-back in Portland on Thursday, so after the Jazz were showered and ready to go, they headed straight to the airport, but their starting point guard wasn’t with them.

Keyonte George will stay behind and undergo an MRI on Thursday to determine the severity of an ankle injury he suffered just four minutes into the contest against the Knicks.

After tweaking the ankle on a non-contact play, the rookie realized that he wasn’t going to be able to run off the pain and intentionally fouled so that he could get off the court.

Though he made a quick exit, he was limping and in pain as he made a beeline for the locker room, hitting things in the tunnel in frustration on his way out.

After scoring a career-high 30, Keyonte George plays just 4 minutes tonight, leaving with a foot injury against New York. pic.twitter.com/b8EFXj3bkB
— Dana Greene (@dana_greene) December 14, 2023

“Those moments are awful, because there’s a part of you that wants to go down the tunnel with him and make sure he’s OK,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said.

“But I have to stay present for the people that are in the game. ... And then it’s not fun when the trainer comes and tells you he’s done for the night because then you want to ask a bunch of follow-up questions, but you don’t really have that time.”

Though George was not available to talk after the game, by all accounts he was in reasonable spirits, and initial testing from the medical staff seemed to indicate that he might have avoided a serious injury.

Jazz 117, Knicks 113: Inside the numbers

George underwent X-ray imaging at the arena on Wednesday but the Jazz are not releasing the results of those until they update with the results of the MRI.

Teammate Collin Sexton, however, pointed toward some signs that things were OK.

“He got some good results earlier so he’ll definitely be fine,” Sexton said. “He’ll be in good spirits, especially once once they check him out (tomorrow).”

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George’s injury came on the night that Lauri Markkanen finally returned after an eight-game absence due to a hamstring strain. It also comes just one day after the team announced that Jordan Clarkson would miss at least two weeks with a hamstring strain.