After overcoming a resilient Oklahoma City Thunder team in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, the Utah Jazz now move on to face the class of this year’s Western Conference.
A matchup with the lethal Houston Rockets is intimidating enough, but the Jazz will also face the added setback of not having their starting point guard, Ricky Rubio. After injuring his hamstring during Utah’s closeout victory in Game 6, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Rubio could miss somewhere around 10 days of action.
Tough blow for Utah: Jazz guard Ricky Rubio could miss 10 days with left hamstring injury, league sources tell ESPN. His return could be sooner, based upon progression in rehabilitation.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 28, 2018
Obviously given the approximate timetable, Ricky Rubio will be out for at least Game 1 and he could certainly miss additional games as well. In fact, Salt Lake Tribune’s Tony Jones says Rubio could miss up to a ‘few weeks’ with his hamstring issue.
League sources: Jazz PG Ricky Rubio is OUT for Game 1 against Houston, and could miss as much as a few weeks with a hamstring injury
— Tony Jones (@tribjazz) April 28, 2018
Rubio’s return all depends on how his troublesome hamstring responds to the rehabilitation process but with the series set to kick off tomorrow, the timing couldn’t have been much worse for Utah.
Though his regular season was up and down, Rubio was playing some of the best basketball he has played in his professional career. The Spaniard was averaging 16.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 7.8 assists when he was healthy in games 1-5 and will be desperately missed against Houston’s superstar backcourt.
