This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The shot that would have forced overtime didn't fall, but after a narrow loss Monday night to the Detroit Pistons, there was at least one guy feeling OK in the Utah Jazz locker room.
And his teammates will be glad to hear it.
"I feel good," power forward Derrick Favors said following his team's 95-92 loss. "I just had to go out there and get some rust off and get my wind back, but overall I feel good."
A month after being sidelined with a back injury that kept him out longer than he ever expected, Favors finally returned to duty with 2:20 left to play in the first quarter. It was his first action since Dec. 23, a streak of 16 straight absences.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back No. 15, Derrick Favors," PA announcer Dan Roberts called out, as the Utah Jazz forward ambled onto the court and the home crowd cheered in appreciation and relief. By the time he was finished, Favors had played 20 minutes, scoring 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting and grabbing five rebounds.
It was not, however, enough to help his team to victory.
Instead, the Jazz opened their longest homestand of the season with a first-half dud, shooting a dreadful 31.7 percent from the floor and digging an early double-digit deficit they'd spend the rest of the night unsuccessfully trying to erase.
Utah (19-25) had the lead trimmed to a single point on a Rudy Gobert floater with two minutes left and then again on a desperation 3-pointer from Rodney Hood with just over six ticks remaining.
The Jazz intentionally fouled Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson, who sank a pair of free throws to give him a game-high 29 points and push his team's lead back up to 3 with 5 seconds to play.
But on a frenzied final possession, Gordon Hayward's 3-pointer at the buzzer sailed wide.
"We didn't play very good for the majority of the game," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said, "and at the end of the game we picked it up."
But even after they faltered Monday, the Jazz are still within striking distance of eighth place in the West. And Favors' return should provide a spark of hope for a team with its sights still set on the playoffs.
The 24-year-old Favors had been listed as out with a back injury since Dec. 23, but the forward said the injury involved both his lower back and his hip. He expected the injury to keep him out a few days or at most a couple of weeks. Instead, it lingered for a month.
"Today was the only day I felt like I was close to playing," Favors said. "It was tough. It was definitely tough dealing with a back issue. I couldn't really move. I couldn't really walk."
On Monday, however, the forward looked solid as he played through his first 20 minutes of action in a month. After a trip to the free-throw line netted his first point, Favors took a pass into the post from point guard Trey Burke, rose up and slammed down a bucket with two hands. In the second half, Favors flashed some power on another dunk, some control to finish a driving and-one and some touch on a free-throw line jumper.
Favors said he believes his injury is gone for good. And after suffering a tough loss Monday, he also believes the Jazz are ready to make a push for the playoffs.
"Yeah, we definitely are," he said. "We've just got to go out there and take care of business."
Twitter: @tribjazz —
Storylines
R Derrick Favors scores 14 points and grabs five rebounds in his first action in over a month.
• The Jazz shoot 31.7 percent from the field in the first half.