Jazz at Nets
The story of George Hill's first season with the Utah Jazz is told in flashes of brilliance on the court and long injury absences. The Jazz will be without their starting point guard again when they visit the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.
Utah played its third game this season with its preferred starting five on Saturday but was quickly without it again when Hill was elbowed in the face by Phoenix center Alex Len in the closing seconds of the first quarter and exhibited concussion-like symptoms after receiving stitches for a laceration in his lower lip. "It's obviously frustrating, I think, for everybody," Jazz swingman Gordon Hayward told the Salt Lake Tribune of Hill. "For him, for sure. But I think for us too. Hopefully he has a speedy recovery." The Nets know what it's like to be without their starting point guard, and Jeremy Lin missed the last two games with his second left hamstring strain and remains questionable. Brooklyn could use Lin to spark the offense but needs more than just one player to fix some of the issues on the other end of the floor.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, ROOT Rocky Mountain (Utah), YES (Brooklyn)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (21-13): Utah leads the NBA in scoring defense (94.7 points) and limited the Suns to 15 points in the fourth quarter in Saturday's win to hold its second straight opponent under 90. Rudy Gobert anchors that defense from the center spot and added three blocked shots to bump his average to 2.59 - second in the NBA behind New Orleans' Anthony Davis. Gobert scored 18 points on Saturday to bounce back from a nine-point effort in the previous game and post his 12th double-double in 13 contests.
ABOUT THE NETS (8-24): Brooklyn is last in the NBA in scoring defense, allowing an average of 114.4 points, and let the Washington Wizards shoot 56.6 percent from the field in a 118-95 setback on Friday. The Nets acknowledge some bickering between players during the contest and held a players-only meeting after the loss. "We really have to have a level of trust that we haven’t had yet this season in one another," star center Brook Lopez told reporters. "We really can make each other and our team better together. The only way the system is going to work is if everyone buys in."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nets SF Joe Harris (hip) sat out the last two games and is questionable for Monday.
2. Jazz SF Joe Ingles is 9-of-15 from 3-point range in the last four games.
3. Utah won its last two trips to Brooklyn, including a 108-86 triumph behind 21 points from Hayward last season.