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The lob pass came in a touch high, but there was a time, not all that long ago, that Derrick Favors probably felt he could have done something spectacular with it.
Instead, the Utah Jazz power forward had to catch the pass, then go to work in the paint, where he connected on a less spectacular but equally effective hook shot.
For Favors, it seems, these days are all about readjusting.
"On some of the plays, on some of the moves I make, normally I could either dunk it or make a spectacular play," he said. "But right now, I can't do it, so I've just got to find other ways to get it done."
It has been three weeks since Favors returned to play following a monthlong absence due to a bone bruise in his left knee, another setback in what has so far proven to be a frustrating season for the Jazzman. He missed nearly the entire training camp and preseason with an injury to the iliotibial band in his leg and returned briefly only to be sidelined again for 13 games with a bone bruise.
Favors, who averaged better than 16 points and eight rebounds last year, has seen his numbers drop to eight and six this year.
Only recently has he started to look like the talented big man upon whom the Jazz relied so heavily a season ago. He recorded 12 points — his first game in double-figures since Nov. 11 — to go along with six rebounds and seven assists Tuesday night in Boston. On Thursday in Toronto, Favors finished with nine points and eight boards.
"I'm feeling a lot better," he said. "Rhythm-wise, game-wise, I'm feeling a lot better. Obviously I still have to work through some things to get back to where I was, but I'm figuring it out."
Favors said he wants to consider his time on the injury report "as a blessing in disguise almost."
"It forced me to work on other things," he said, jokingly calling it his "old-man game." "Playing under the rim, not being able to dunk all the time, now I've got to work on passing, getting open a little more."
The Jazz are having to adjust as well. The team relied on Boris Diaw, Trey Lyles and, at times, Joe Johnson, all perimeter threats, to fill in at power forward with Favors sidelined. Now Snyder knows there may be a minutes crunch at the four-spot going forward.
"For us, you'd hope to work through some of that in November," he said. "So we're going to have to do in January what a lot of teams do in November and our players are going to have to be tough-minded and we're going to have to make hard decisions."
And while minutes will be tighter, so will the spacing as the Jazz go big with Favors and Gobert together in the starting lineup.
"It's a little bit of an adjustment offensively, definitely," said shooting guard Rodney Hood. "But I think as we're going along, we'll get more and more comfortable and settled with that group and find ways to play with each other. They've been doing a good job. Fav's hit Rudy with a couple high-low passes. They've been playing off each other, so I think it's working."
Favors, meanwhile, feels confident things will be getting back to normal, for he and the Jazz, soon enough.
"It's definitely coming back," he said. "… I can tell day to day. Day to day, it's getting better. Day to day, I'm feeling better. Day to day, the game's getting comfortable to me, getting easier to me again."
Twitter: @aaronfalk —
Jazz at Timberwolves
P At Target Center
Tipoff • Saturday, 6 p.m. MST
TV • ROOT
Radio • 1280 AM, 97.5 FM
About the Jazz • Dropped to 1-2 through the first three legs of their five-game road trip with a loss Thursday in Toronto. … Point guard George Hill is still in the NBA's concussion protocol after being elbowed in the face on Dec. 31. … Rudy Gobert extended his franchise record to 22 consecutive games with double-digit rebounds.
About the Wolves • Lost to the Jazz, 112-103, back on Nov. 28 in Minneapolis. … Forward Andrew Wiggins (21.7) and center Karl-Anthony Towns (21.6) lead the Wolves in scoring. … Will be on the second night of a back-to-back after playing at Washington on Friday.