Lauri Markkanen against Mavericks due to illness
The The Utah Jazz are ready to take over Dallas Mavericks on the road Thursday at 8:30 PM EST. However, it sounds like Utah will be without one of its stars, Lauri Markkanensince it is already turned off.
Reports indicate that the 28-year-old forward is officially out with the disease. The type of disease is not specified. Markkanen is one of six players on the Jazz’s roster who have been ruled out for Thursday’s contest. Elijah Harkless, Walker Kessler and Georges Niang are all out with injuries, while John Tonje and Oscar Tshiebwe are in the G-League on two-way contracts.
Markkanen, who usually switches between small and power forward, will have to be replaced in the lineup. The Jazz will likely turn to Taylor Hendricks at the power forward position. Kyle Filipowski and Kevin Love could get additional playing time in Markkanen’s absence.
This will be Lauri Markanen’s second consecutive missed game due to illness after being unavailable in the Jazz’s 128-126 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. Not having the 2022-23 MVP award winner in the lineup is the worst-case scenario for Utah right now, as Markkanen has been one of the team’s most consistent players throughout this season.
In the 33 games played so far, the nine-year veteran is averaging 27.9 points (highest in his career), 7.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. He is also shooting 48.3% field goal percentage while going 36.5% from the three-point line. Lauri Markkanen will have a chance to finally return from his illness on Saturday, when the Jazz play the Mavericks again.
2026-01-15 20:07:00
