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The Jazz may get one guard back tonight, but another will be out for at least a week.
Shooting guard Rodney Hood will be a game-time decision tonight against the Toronto Raptors, as he tries to fight off a flu bug that kept him out of Wednesday's game against the Kings.
Point guard Danté Exum, meanwhile, is dealing with left patellar tendinitis and won't be re-evaluated for another week.
"We're living on borrowed time when we have five guys who are out," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said at the team's morning shootaround, before heaping effusive praise on his team's effort and record despite being hit so hard by injuries.
"At some point we've got to defend our players for what they're doing," Snyder said. "For this team to be 18-12 right now is remarkable. I mean, seriously, the injuries we've dealt with — and it's not just numbers, it's the people who have been out. Take a starting backcourt away from another team in the league. Go ahead. Try to figure out how good they are."
Snyder was especially complimentary of forward Gordon Hayward and center Rudy Robert.
"We're talking about Gordon Hayward as an All-Star because he's played like an All-Star," Snyder said, adding that the Jazz's leading scorer has had to shoulder an extra burden without much offensive help. "… He's got a Volkswagen, he's trying to lift it and there's no one on the other side. He's doing great."
With regard to Gobert, Snyder alluded to the fourth-year big man's recent claim to ESPN that he believed he was the best center in the NBA at the moment.
"Rudy's just been a monster and people are worried about whether Rudy's handling questions right, whether he's being too forward and all that," Snyder said. "Part of me feels like Rudy can say whatever he wants and then some, and I'll just say Rudy's right because he's playing so hard and so well."
— Aaron Falk