Utah Jazz: George Hill OUT Against Nuggets, But Rodney Hood May Return
The Utah Jazz will be without George Hill again on Saturday night due to a toe injury. However, Rodney Hood could be set to return to the court.
George Hill has played in just 11 games this season for the Utah Jazz, and they will be without him once again on Saturday. The point guard has been ruled out of Utah’s home bout with the Denver Nuggets. He continues to deal with a sprained toe suffered earlier this week against the Houston Rockets. It’s unclear how long he’ll be on the sidelines.
Dante Exum started in place of Hill on Thursday against the Miami Heat, but didn’t play well. Exum finished with just five points on 1-of-6 shooting in 18 minutes of play. He also turned the ball over four times. Shelvin Mack played very well in the game, scoring 11 points, while adding five rebounds and five assists.
Raul Neto also got some run against Miami; we could very well see him again against the Nuggets. Neto started 53 games as a rookie last season, but has only played sparingly this year. If there’s any silver lining to Hill being out, it’s that he and Exum will get extra floor time.
Fortunately, the other Jazz guard that suffered an injury in the Rockets game could be on the verge of a return. Rodney Hood went through shootaround on Saturday and is being listed as a game-time decision.
Hood is currently nursing a hamstring injury, although an MRI conducted this week showed no major damage.
Joe Johnson got the start for the injured Hood against Miami and had one of his better game of the season. Iso Joe scored 18 points and hit four three-pointers. Joe Ingles was also strong off the bench.
Both players are likely to assume extra minutes should Hood miss his second-straight game.
Without both Hill and Hood, the Jazz are missing a lot of offensive firepower. Hill is averaging 20.0 points per game on the season, while Hood is scoring at a 16.1 PPG clip. Their absence puts a lot of pressure on Gordon Hayward to produce offensively. G-Time finished with 32 points against the Heat on Thursday night.
With any luck, he won’t have to carry that kind of load against the Nuggets.
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Zachary Padmore contributed to this story. Give him a follow on Twitter @eromdaPJkcaZ.
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