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Sometimes, being injured can be turned into a good thing. At least, that's what Gordon Hayward hopes.

The star Utah Jazz small forward will likely return tonight from a sprained shoulder that sidelined him on Monday and Wednesday of this week. In preparation for the Denver Nuggets, Hayward went through shootaround at the Pepsi Center with no ill-effects, which means he should be in the starting lineup around gametime.

Hayward in sitting out, said he was able to watch the game from afar, study some of the things that he could do better when he came back. He said he took sitting out as an opportunity. He returns almost 20 points per game back to the lineup. He also returns the all-around ability that's made him one of the best players this season at the small forward spot.

"It's tough to sit back and not be able to play, especially in close games," Hayward said. "But the beauty of that is you learn a lot from it. You can see the little things you need to do to improve, and the game slows down for you."

Hayward said he realized he can be a bit more patient when being the primary pick-and-roll ballhandler. He said that while he's made big strides in that area this year, he can still make more improvement.

Obviously, the Jazz are happy to get Hayward back. Simply put, offense with Hayward on the bench was at times a major issue. The Jazz had trouble scoring through extended periods without Hayward, and they couldn't close out either the Minnesota Timberwolves, nor the Portland Trailblazers, squandering fourth quarter leads in each of their losses this week.

Hayward was also missed defensively, Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. During Utah's run after the all-star break, most of the defensive attention has been centered Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors, and their collective rim protection.

However, Hayward's perimeter defense has been a big reason for the improvement on that end. And without Hayward, guys were getting to the basket off the dribble far too easily this week.

"The job the guys are doing on the perimeter defensively, with keeping people out of the paint, is kind of overlooked at times, because the rim protection is so visible," Snyder said. "All of the subtleties of guys not getting in there is a huge, huge thing with our defense. And that's a big thing with not having Gordon. The offense goes without saying. Getting him back there is a boost, too."

Tony Jones