Lauri Markkanen is out once again, but will it matter against a short-handed Memphis Grizzlies squad?

The Utah Jazz sit at 6-11 and are facing off with the 3-13 Memphis Grizzlies. The Jazz will be without star player Lauri Markkanen as he misses his third game in a row with a hamstring injury, and may also be without Jordan Clarkson and Kelly Olynyk for the contest as well. Clarkson and Olynyk are questionable for the game, and not having Clarkson could be addition by subtraction.

If Clarkson is out, the offense will flow much more smoothly without Clarkson forcing up junk shots all game long. For the Grizzlies part, they'll be without Ja Morant, and Steven Adams obviously but will also be missing Luke Kennard and Marcus Smart for the contest as well. Mortant is suspended still, and Adams is out for the season, but the Smart and Kennard injury is new.

The Jazz would likely role this Grizzlies teams if they had Markkanen but without him, do the Jazz have a shot to pull to 7-11 on the season? Honestly, yes. Assuming guys like Keyonte George don't shoot below 38% from the floor, the Jazz should not only win this but win this easily.

The Jazz got back Walker Kessler and since his return from injury they've been undefeated. Not to mention but guys like Simone Fontecchio have been playing very well over the last few games, and the Jazz's offense is good whether Markkanen or Clarkson play or not. So the odds should be on the Jazz's side tonight.

But that's just it, games aren't played on paper, but on the court and while the Jazz should win this game, that doesn't mean they will. That said, if they can somehow claw their way back to 7-11, then maybe the season isn't out of reach just yet. The hope was that the Jazz would be no worse than 11-7 by this point of the season, but that hasn't been the case for the Jazz.

Hopefully the team can continue the winning streak here.