Utah Jazz ‘optimistic’ about Ricky Rubio for Game 4

Utah Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio’s status for Sunday’s Game 4 has been elevated to questionable, and it appears quite likely that he will indeed play.

Make no mistake about it, the Utah Jazz have desperately missed their starting point guard Ricky Rubio in their second-round clash against the Houston Rockets. Even in the win in Game 2, there were sequences, particularly in the late second and early third quarter, where his absence was very noticeable.

Without Rubio in action, Donovan Mitchell has been forced to handle much of the point guard duties, a task which is not only largely unfamiliar to him after playing alongside Rubio for practically the entire season, but is also outside of his current strengths. Mitchell may one day be more than capable of running the point for a playoff caliber team, but for now, he’s clearly more suited playing alongside a more seasoned primary ball handler like Ricky.

The Jazz offense sputtered for practically all of Games 1 and 3, and Utah could have certainly used the boost on defense that a pesky defender like Rubio would have provided. However, with the Jazz starting point guard sidelined with the hamstring injury he sustained in Game 6 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, it was beginning to look like the team would need to simply hope to survive without him as many presumed he wouldn’t be able to recover before the conclusion of the Western Conference Semifinals.

Fortunately, there’s now a shred of hope regarding his status.

On Saturday afternoon, Rubio’s injury status was elevated to questionable. That was a good sign in and of itself, presumably meaning that the Jazz are quite pleased with his progress. The news got even better later in the day as an ESPN report indicated that the Jazz are “optimistic” that Rubio will make his second-round debut in Sunday’s Game 4.

The report continued by stating that Rubio will receive treatment Sunday morning and then the Jazz should have a better idea about whether he’ll be able to go or not.

Add that news to the videos posted by the Salt Lake Tribune’s Kyle Goon (featured below) of Rubio doing drills after shootaround and getting shots up during pre-game of Game 3, and there’s certainly a lot of reasons to believe that he’ll be ready to go.

In a perfect world, that would mean great news. The Jazz offense has been troublesome without their floor general, and Donovan Mitchell’s game has declined dramatically, evidenced by his 10-point, 4-of-16 outing in Game 3. If the Rubio of old were simply inserted into the Jazz lineup, it would almost certainly mean significant improvements for a team that has struggled in two of its three second-round games.

Unfortunately, even if Rubio is able to play on Sunday, the fact that he’s listed as questionable signifies that he’ll likely be at less than 100 percent. Add the lingering injury to the fact that he may have some rust and is being thrown into a Game 4 as the only Jazzman to have yet to face the Rockets in the playoffs, and we could certainly see him struggle a bit.

Hopefully if he does play, he’ll be able to shake off those potential woes quickly and simply be a much-needed force for the Jazz and an aide for Donovan Mitchell right off the bat. Either way, it’s good to hear that his chances of playing are at least relatively high, and his presence alone could completely shift morale and momentum in Utah’s favor.

In other news, Derrick Favors suffered a sprained ankle in Game 3 and is also listed as questionable for Sunday’s bout. However, according to a report from the Salt Lake Tribune’s Tony Jones, Favors has made it clear that he intends to play.

The Jazz are no strangers to injuries as they’ve dealt with several such setbacks in recent years. However, this latest set of news could very well indicate that the Jazz will be able to play with a full roster after all.

Next: Is it even feasible to think the Utah Jazz can win Game 4?

They’ll certainly need it if they hope to avoid falling into a 3-1 hole.