This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Oklahoma City • A trip to Boise and back this ain't.The Utah Jazz didn't have to travel much during the first half of the preseason, playing three times at EnergySolutions Arena with an overnighter in Idaho thrown in there.But as Utah begins a six-night, four-game road trip, coach Ty Corbin is anxious to see how a young group responds."It's a learning experience for us," he said Sunday morning. "You have to win on the road in this league. For us, being away from the comforts of home, how do we conduct ourselves on the road? How do we keep ourselves prepared and focused on the job at hand?"Even a veteran team can struggle on the road. Last season, the Jazz were 30-11 at home and 13-28 away from Salt Lake City. "This is one of the areas we have to be better at," Corbin said. "To have [a long road trip] here at the end of [preseason] could be beneficial to us."Injuries pilling upAside from Utah's three long-term injuries (Trey Burke, Marvin Williams and Brandon Rush), the Jazz were will be without forward Jeremy Evans (rotator cuff strain), center Rudy Gobert (sprained left shoulder capsule) and point guard Scott Machado (lower abdominal contusion) tonight against the Thunder. All three are considered day to day.
Pain tolerance
While Machado watches from the bench, Lester Hudson has a chance to further impress the Jazz.
The journeyman went 3 for 4 from beyond the arc against Portland, but sprained his ankle in the loss. He had to miss a day of practice this week, but should be back on the court tonight.
"The trainer made me take the day off [Thursday]," he said. "It's tough. I didn't want to take the day off."
— Aaron Falk