Utah Jazz: Five takeaways from victory over Orlando Magic

Mike Conley is out… again

If the game wasn’t falling out of hand, I would have liked to see the Jazz bench get a chance to win back the lead they blew. They had some promising plays with good defense and good ball movement, it was just silly mistakes that caused quick buckets for the Orlando Magic.

With Mike Conley controlling the offense, those silly mistakes would’ve been minimized. Conley played a good chunk of his minutes with the bench unit attempting to stabilize those lineups. Since it was only his first game back from injury it didn’t exactly go according to plan. Mike finished with a team low -9 on the +/- stat.

However, Conley dished out six assists in just 19 minutes of play. He didn’t get to finish the game because he re aggravated his left hamstring in the third quarter, which is why Georges Niang got some minutes in the fourth.

I was looking forward to seeing Mike provide a boost to the Jazz in his return, but it looks like unfortunately we will have to wait a little bit longer. The hamstring tightness never seemed that serious in the first place, it was something he and his teammates played off, noting several times that he would’ve played had it not been for the training staff taking precautions.

I’m not too worried about the hamstring in particular. As an athlete my hamstrings would tighten up on occasion in high school, it’s just a part of constantly keeping yourself in tip top shape. With proper recovery and rest time, Conley should be back soon and in good shape.

The part that does trouble me is that it was re-aggravated so quickly even after 15 days of rehab. I may know what it’s like to have hamstring tightness but I don’t know what it’s like to be 32 years old. Mike’s body is getting older and he can’t be used for as many grueling minutes as Donovan or Rudy can.

It looks like the training staff was right holding Conley out for those couple of weeks. Should this be a concern for Jazz fans going forward that perhaps Mike Conley is more fragile than we anticipated? Will he be able to come back any sooner than the five games he’s already missed? Will he be available enough to build some sort of chemistry in time for the playoffs?

These questions are all running through the minds of Jazz fans right now. I think if Conley was able to finish the game then the Jazz would have won by more than 15 points. Veterans that have played in the league for 12+ years know how to close out games, and this one would have been no exception for Conley. But unfortunately for the Jazz, it looks like they will be yet again shorthanded in point guards when they take on Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night.

All in all it was a good win for the Utah Jazz. Fans should be assured that the team is in good hands with Donovan Mitchell and Bojan Bogdanovic balling out. Rudy Gobert is still an elite defensive presence, and Quin Snyder is still one of the best basketball minds on the planet. All we have to do is hold our breath with Conley’s hamstring and hope for the best of news.