Now, about the Utah Jazz winning 50 games this season…that’s probably not going to happen.
It’s not that the Jazz don’t have the talent to reach that mark. No, no, no. They’re just a magnet for injury bugs.
Boris Diaw is the latest to fall victim. He will miss at least the next two weeks with a leg contusion, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com:
Jazz PF/C Boris Diaw is likely to miss two weeks with a right leg contusion, a source said. With Derrick Favors still on a minutes restriction, 20-year-old Trey Lyles will continue to have an increased role.
This Diaw news comes right after it was announced that Alec Burks would be out indefinitely following ankle surgery. Gordon Hayward is currently sidelined with a broken finger as well. And Derrick Favors only just returned from an extended stay on the shelf.
Fortunately for the Jazz, they are one of the deepest teams in the league, and this latest injury at least came after Favors’ return, not before it. Trey Lyles has already shown he can ball, Jeff Withey is a capable backup center, Joe Johnson can play some power forward and Rudy Gobert is still Rudy Gobert. The Jazz’s frontcourt is going to be fine.
But Diaw adds a different dimension to the Jazz’s attack, as that big who can put the ball on the floor and defend four, if not all five, of the positions. Utah also ranks middle of the road in offensive and defensive efficiency, according to NBA.com, and needs to reestablish its identity. That’s tough to do when you’re constantly cycling through different lineups and players.
Once Hayward returns, by which point Diaw should already be back in the swing of things, everything might be fine. All the Jazz really need to do is tread water in the meantime, which they’re doing as of now. From there, 50 victories will still be in sight.
Except this assumes everyone remains healthy after Hayward’s return—an assumption that, given Utah’s recent run of bad luck, we just can’t make.
