Cleveland • Tony Bradley almost started packing on the spot. He knew the phone call was coming.
Utah’s rookie center was watching the Jazz play the Boston Celtics on Friday night, relaxing in New York, on assignment with the Stars.
Then, Rudy Gobert went down.
Then, Derrick Favors went down.
Bradley started mentally preparing himself for the call-up to the big club.
“I kind of knew the phone was going to ring that night,” Bradley said. “I started getting ready for what was next.”
The seven-foot center gathered his things quickly and met the team in Boston, where the Jazz had to wait for him on the team plane headed to Cleveland for Saturday night’s matchup against the Cavaliers.
Before the game, Bradley was a bit bleary-eyed. But he’s excited to be back with the Jazz and in a position to learn as his rookie season evolves.
“Tony’s going to have to be ready and stay ready,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. “Cleveland may not be a game for him, but we’re down two of our big guys and we need everyone to be ready.”
Gobert will be out at least two weeks, and could miss as much as a month with a PCL sprain in his left knee and bone contusion in his leg. This will be his second significant injury of the season. He missed 11 games previously with a bone contusion in his right leg.
Favors took an elbow from Boston guard Jaylen Brown and received six stitches for a cut above his left eye. He wanted to play Saturday night, but showed concussion-like symptoms while warming up and is now in the NBA’s concussion protocol.
Without Gobert and Favors, veteran forward Joe Johnson made his first start of the season, while Ekpe Udoh made the start at center. Jonas Jerebko played minutes at backup center, and the Jazz played a good portion of the game with five perimeter players.
A reunion
On Saturday night, Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio matched up with Jose Calderon, his former teammate on Spain’s national team. Rubio scored six points and handed out two assists in the first half. Calderon scored four points on 2-of-4 shooting in the same span.
Out again
Jazz backup point guard Raul Neto missed his third consecutive game with a concussion. He was originally injured a week ago against the Milwaukee Bucks.
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