The Utah Jazz are looking to win back-to-back games for the first time this season after beating the Portland Trailblazers on Friday night. Their opponent is the 11-13 Sacramento Kings, who are trying to win consecutive games for the first time in over a month. The Jazz have a number of key pieces that are questionable for the contest.
Lauri Markkanen was a late scratch prior to the team’s game on Friday due to a flare-up of the back issues that have ailing him throughout the year. He is deemed questionable for the contest due to the same issue. Joining him on the injury report is rookie Kyle Filipowski, who has missed the team’s last seven games due to a sprained ankle. Filipowski is also questionable, though he played in a rehab game with the Salt Lake City Stars on Friday.
The Jazz will continue to be without Jordan Clarkson (plantar fasciitis) and Cody Williams (G-League). Without them on the wings, Johnny Juzang and Brice Sensabaugh have stepped up into the rotation. Juzang is coming off of his best game of the year, in which he led the Jazz with 22 points and six made three-pointers.
The Kings are relatively healthy for this tilt. They will once again be without former Jazzman Trey Lyles, who is out with a calf injury. Besides that, only rookie Devin Carter, who has yet to make his season debut because of offseason shoulder surgery, is unavailable for the Kings.
This is the third time that the Jazz and Kings have matched up this season, with the Kings winning the first two. The Kings have had a disappointing start to the season after the offseason addition of Demar DeRozan. Sitting at 12th in the Western Conference, the Kings need to take advantage when they see rebuilding teams like the Jazz on their schedule. The Jazz sits at 5-17, the third-worst record in the NBA.
If Filipowski and Markkanen can return, the Jazz must decide between Filipowski and John Collins for the fifth starting spot. Flip stepped into that role before his injury and did so well. Without him though, Collins has been fabulous.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm MT.
Follow Inside The Jazz onFacebook andTwitter/X.
Subscribe to YouTube for breaking Jazz news videos and live streams!