Injury Bug Bites Jazz Point Guards

MILWAUKEE, Wisc. – Having already suffered the loss of point guard Dante Exum to a sprained ankle, the Utah Jazz were dealt another blow when Ricky Rubio went down with a hamstring injury in the loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Rubio’s injury occurred just five minutes into the game, when he exited the game after scoring nine of the Jazz’s first 11 points in the game.

Ricky Rubio (right thigh injury) will not return tonight.

— Utah Jazz PR (@UtahJazzPR) January 8, 2019

Exum likely would have entered the game for the injured Rubio, but he had already been ruled out with an ankle sprain that he suffered in Saturday’s win over Detroit.

In place of both injured guards, Raul Neto came in and played admirably, registering a career high in minutes with 29 while scoring 10 points and dishing out five assists.

Neto’s strong play when called upon in a moment of distress was not unnoticed by his teammates.

Jazz point guard situation
Rubio — injured
Exum — injured
Neto – available
Allen — injured
Mitrou-Long- active and available

— David Locke (@Lockedonsports) January 8, 2019

“You look at what Raul did, he came in and stepped up and that’s gotta be our mindset,” Donovan Mitchell said to Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News. “We can’t sulk and be like, ‘Oh, man.’ Obviously, it’s tough and it’s similar to Houston when we lost Ricky and Dante but we can’t sit back and say it gives us an excuse.”

Jazz center Rudy Gobert was also proud of Neto.

#TeamIsEverything pic.twitter.com/bo27DekoNE

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 8, 2019

“We have guys that usually don’t get minutes but are able to help the team in playing,” Gobert said to Woodyard. “They’re actually very good basketball players and Raul did a great job tonight, coming in and giving us a chance to win the game so we have a lot of guys that can come in and help out.”

The Jazz will next head home to face Orlando Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Vivint SmartHome Arena. The game will be broadcast on AT&T SportsNet.