This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Jazz point guard George Hill will miss Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals Monday night against the Golden State Warriors at Vivint Smart Home Arena, coach Quin Snyder said before the game.
Hill has missed the past two games of the series with a toe injury, and Shelvin Mack has stepped into the starting lineup in Hill's place. Mack is the team's third-leading scorer (10.3 points per game) behind Gordon Hayward and Rudy Gobert through three games in the series. Mack will start on Monday night as well in Game 4.
"We'll, we've been dealing with it all year," Hayward said about adjusting to Hill's absence. "Whether it's Shelvin, whether it's Raul [Neto], whether it's Joe Ingles or myself or one of the other wings running the point, we've had to deal with it all year. I think that's kind of helped us prepare for it a little bit, but also just the guys that are replacing, filling in for injured guys, are professionals. They've done a great job of staying ready and being prepared, and they've come in and given us a boost."
Both Snyder and Hayward talked about the need for the Jazz to get off to a good start against the Warriors, a team capable of going on huge runs and dominated its previous close out game against the Portland Trailblazers.
"It's definitely a key for us to come out with a lot of energy, come out strong, let them know that it's going to be a fight and not something where they can just cruise to victory," Hayward said.
Snyder said about the team's start to games, "You always want to start better, but it's something we've talked about in a previous series. It's something we talked about this year. We haven't been inconsistent any more than anyone else when the other team wants to get ahead, too. But it's important, particularly against them because playing from behind is really difficult. Every time you kind of close the gap, you can anticipate them getting more aggressive particularly in transition, and that means they can hit a couple 3s and extend."
— Lynn Worthy