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Los Angeles • Gordon Hayward says a bad sandwich gave him food poisoning, forcing him to leave Game 4 of the Jazz's playoff series with the Clippers on Sunday. But the all-star forward is back on his feet and good to go for tonight's Game 5.
"Feel a lot better," Hayward said at the team's hotel this morning. "I was definitely down for the count. Haven't been sick like that in years, maybe at all. So it was rough, but I'm happy that we got the win. I was really proud of the guys."
Hayward said both he and his wife got food poisoning after eating "a sandwich from a place," though he did not specify beyond that.
Hayward played just nine minutes Sunday. Jazz coach Quin Snyder said Hayward isn't expected to have any limitations on his minutes tonight.
"It goes without saying that he obviously has been our best player this year, best offensive player," Snyder said. "It's good to have him back after the other night."
Hayward's illness came at bad time for the Jazz, but Joe Johnson's fourth-quarter heroics helped Utah get the win and level the series at two games apiece.
"I think he's good," center Rudy Gobert said, assessing Hayward's performance at the team's morning shootaround. The illness "was very unfortunate, but at least we knew he was going to be good for the next game."
— Aaron Falk