Mike Conley is set to miss multiple games yet again with a hamstring injury. Will the Utah Jazz be able to fare alright without him?
During the first half of the Utah Jazz’s battle against the Orlando Magic on Tuesday, they looked like a completely rejuvenated squad. In Mike Conley‘s return to action after missing five games with a hamstring injury, the Jazz offense found a rhythm and played quite well against the visiting Magic, earning an 11-point lead at the half that ballooned to 18 midway through the third.
Things were looking good for the Jazz in what many assumed would be a victory they could coast to. But then, there was a wildly unfortunate turn of events. First, Mike Conley left the game with an apparent injury and then the Jazz bench was put in the game to start the final period.
And unfortunately, the Jazz reserves, as they have so often this season, struggled mightily. The Magic used a 12-0 run followed up by a 15-0 run shortly thereafter to turn the game from an 18-point deficit to a seven-point lead. Ironically enough, that spurt not only took place largely while the second unit was in the game, but it took place during a stretch that in Quin’s normal rotation, Mike Conley would be in with the reserves to help stabilize them.
In other words, Mike’s absence most assuredly had a negative impact on the Jazz and quite nearly cost them the game.
Despite Mike Conley’s shooting struggles this season, that has most certainly been a trend for him and the Jazz. Regardless of any perceived issues he’s had, he’s been critical in running Utah’s offense and keeping everyone in sync on that end of the floor. True, he still has work to do himself to get fully assimilated, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s been a significant positive for this Jazz team.
When Conley is off the floor, the Jazz’s offensive rating drops by over three points per 100 possessions as compared to when he’s on. The defense also takes a hit of 1.3 points per 100 without Conley as well. Outside of those numbers, the fact that the Jazz suffered a number of ugly performances while he was sidelined speaks for itself also.
And with all that said, the Utah Jazz unfortunately find themselves in a sticky situation. When Mike Conley left Tuesday’s game, it was originally presumed to be a tweak of the same hamstring injury. While there may be some truth to that, it also appears to be far worse.
According to a report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Conley is set to miss significant time, perhaps even longer than he did in his last absence. Charania stated that he reaggravated his left hamstring and is expected to miss multiple games as a minimum and could miss multiple weeks.
Jazz guard Mike Conley Jr. is expected to miss multiple games with his reaggravated left hamstring and could miss multiple weeks, league sources tell me and @Tjonesonthenba.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 18, 2019
This could very well be the Jazz not wanting to set too high of expectations and/or aiming to be extra cautious. Obviously they need Conley in action so he can get accustomed to playing with his new team, but even more than that, they need him to be healthy and ready to go for postseason play. If he misses a stretch from December to January, it’ll be worth it if he’s 100 percent come April.
On the bright side, while the Jazz have a few tough games ahead, for the most part their schedule doesn’t take a drastic difficult turn for about another month. The end of January is where things start to get brutal. That’s about five weeks away, though, so hopefully the ‘multiple’ weeks Shams described will be less than that.
Because even against inferior teams, the Jazz have struggled without Conley, particularly their offense and their reserves as a whole. Utah looked good against Orlando with Joe Ingles moving into the starting lineup and Royce O’Neale sliding into the second unit, but they won’t have that luxury again until Conley makes his return.
While he’s out of action, ideally the Jazz will continue to get used to one another, and Conley will be able to continue to learn through observation as he did during his previous absence, making him even quicker to get up to speed once he’s back in action. That will be easier said than done, but it will be crucial for the Jazz.
Not only that, but the bigger question lies in how the Jazz will cope while Conley is out of commission. During his absence, the Jazz were blown out by the Los Angeles Lakers and a fatigued Oklahoma City Thunder squad and pulled off less-than-convincing wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors with only one good win over the Memphis Grizzlies in between.
If the Jazz continue to be as unevenly-keeled over this next stretch without Conley, they could be in for yet another rough patch, which would spell bad news considering that even after undergoing a three-game win streak, they remain in sixth place in the West, well below their originally presumed potential.
Strap in, Jazz fans. The team is going to be without a major contributor in Mike Conley at the point guard spot for the foreseeable future. And barring a massive turnaround while he’s out of commission, that could mean more disconcerting losses in the meantime.