San Antonio • The Utah Jazz were a tired basketball team Saturday night.
As if playing a back-to-back against the San Antonio Spurs wasn’t enough of a drain, the Jazz had to deal with travel issues on Friday night after their win over the Phoenix Suns.
Because of mechanical issues, the Jazz had to turn around in midair and land back in Phoenix, where they sat for hours. The team’s plane got into the air and flew for 30 minutes at a low altitude, but because the flaps on the plane wouldn’t open, it had to turn around.
That wasn’t the scary part — the scary part was the plane couldn’t make a full turn. It was forced to veer because of how much gas it was burning. Players said they were assured mid-flight that the issue wasn’t totally serious.
“We were all a little nervous, but it was something that we had to just deal with,” Jazz forward Derrick Favors said. “We just looked at it as another challenge, some adversity that we had to overcome.”
Eventually, the Jazz had to go to a different plane. The team landed in San Antonio at 5 a.m., and did not get to the hotel to sleep until 6:30 a.m. The normal gameday routine was cancelled, with coaches having a 4 p.m. meeting and nothing required of players until the team bus came to take them to the AT&T Center.
Hood makes his return
Rodney Hood played on Saturday night, after missing six games with a lower leg contusion. Utah’s shooting guard is not 100 percent, but with the Jazz playing on consecutive nights, Hood wanted to give his team additional fresh legs.
“I want to give it a go and see how it goes,” Hood said. “I feel OK, but I thought it was important to get on the floor and play.”
Hood played five minutes in Saturday night’s first half and didn’t score. He went 0 of 2 from the field, playing with the second unit.
One comes in, one sits out
Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell was a late scratch Saturday night with flu-like symptoms. Mitchell warmed up pregame and seemed fine before deciding to sit out. In his place, Alec Burks started at shooting guard. He went 1 for 7 from the field in the first half, scoring three points with five rebounds and two assists. The Jazz were also without veteran forward Joe Johnson, who was rested.
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