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Utah Jazz: Dante Exum, Ricky Rubio out for Game 5 with hamstring strains

By Zachary Padmore

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MAY 6: Dante Exum #11 of the Utah Jazz reaches for control of the ballagainst the Houston Rockets during Game Four of the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on May 6, 2018 at the Vivint Smart Home Arena Salt Lake City, Utah. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MAY 6: Dante Exum #11 of the Utah Jazz reaches for control of the ballagainst the Houston Rockets during Game Four of the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on May 6, 2018 at the Vivint Smart Home Arena Salt Lake City, Utah. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Dante Exum, who left Sunday’s game with an injury, and Ricky Rubio have been ruled out for Game 5 between the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets.

Utah Jazz fans held their breath when they saw Dante Exum go down with an apparent knee injury on Sunday night. Exum, who was having a great game, collapsed on his way to the locker room and appeared to be in pretty serious pain.

It was later reported that Exum is dealing with a hamstring strain. Ironically, starting point guard Ricky Rubio hasn’t played in the series against Houston due to a strained hamstring as well, so the Jazz are getting hit with injuries at the wrong time. It was announced on Monday that not only will Exum be out for Game 5, but Rubio will be as well.

In regards to the severity of Exum’s injury, a hamstring strain is probably good news. It isn’t a very serious injury, and I think a lot of us instantly thought the worst when Exum went down, simply because of his past luck with injuries. He missed the entire 2015-16 season with a torn ACL and missed the majority of the 2017-18 season with a shoulder injury.

Hamstring injuries are tough to shake, so it’s not all that surprising to see Exum miss time with this injury. Utah is down 3-1 against Houston, and are missing key players due to injury. The odds are stacked against the Jazz, but this group never quits. We will see how they respond on Tuesday night.

Before going down with the hamstring injury on Sunday, Exum was having a superb game. He scored nine points in just 10 minutes, and was attacking the basket with force. He’s got one of the quickest first steps in basketball, and that showed on Sunday.

Raul Neto, who is the third-string point guard, got some more minutes during Game 4 on Sunday. You can expect to see a lot more of Neto with Rubio and Exum both sidelined for Game 5. Donovan Mitchell will also continue to play major minutes at both guard spots.

Next: Three things the Utah Jazz need to prove in Game 5, win or lose

Game 5 will be in Houston Tuesday night at 6:00 PM MT. The Jazz will be a desperate team as they look to climb out of a 3-1 hole.

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