Rudy Gobert Injury: Updates on Jazz Center's Ankle and Return
Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert suffered a sprained ankle Monday against the Dallas Mavericks. It's unclear when he'll return to the court.
Continue for updates.
Gobert Out vs. Lakers
Tuesday, April 12
Jody Genessy of the Deseret News reported Gobert did not travel to Los Angeles for the team's clash with the Lakers on Wednesday.
He was seen using crutches after Monday's game with his foot in a walking boot, per Dana Greene of ABC 4 News:
Injury-Plagued Gobert a Crucial Post Presence for Jazz
Gobert has been plagued by injury this season already. The third-year Frenchman has already missed 17 games because of a sprained MCL.
It's been the best season of his short career so far when he's been able to stay on the floor. In 60 games, he's averaged a career high in points (9.1) and rebounds (11) as he is a double-double threat almost every night.
While his offensive numbers have been good, his defensive presence has been more important. An athletic center who is versatile for his 7'1" stature, Gobert helped the Jazz hold one of the league's top defenses with his play near the rim.
After he went down with the MCL sprain, the defense suffered quickly, as Gerald Bourguet of HoopsHabit.com pointed out:
"Before Gobert went down, Utah’s defense surrendered 99.8 points per 100 possessions, good for the 10th best mark in the NBA. Though their offensive rating has spiked from 100.8 to 103.7 in nine games without Gobert, the defense has given up 109.8 points per 100 possessions — 10 points worse than before, and good for the third worst defense in the league during that span. Leading up to Gobert’s MCL sprain, the Jazz were allowing opponents to shoot 44.4 percent from the field and only 55.5 percent on shots from less than five feet (ninth in the league). Now Utah’s D is allowing 46.1 percent shooting from the floor and 59.4 percent shooting on shots from less than five feet.
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Without Gobert again, the defense will surely suffer, thus adding more pressure to the Jazz offense to produce. That isn't the best formula to have for a team hanging onto the final Western Conference playoff spot.
Utah will hope there is power in numbers to help replace Gobert while he recovers. Jeff Withey, Derrick Favors and Tibor Pleiss should step up in Favors' absence. They are part of the center platoon that has appeared in games this season.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.
