Jazz's Lauri Markkanen reveals real reason he didn't return from injury vs. Mavericks
11/15/2024 10:40 AM
The start of the 2024-25 season hasn’t been kind to Lauri Markkanen. Entering the Utah Jazz’s Thursday night contest against the Dallas Mavericks, he’s averaging just 15 points on 39.4 percent shooting from the field in the three games he’s played in since returning from injury. But making matters worse was the injury he sustained in the Jazz’s 115-113 win over the Mavericks that prevented him from finishing the game.
Markkanen, with 7:37 to go in the fourth quarter, hauled in a rebound with the Jazz still up by 10, 104-94. However, in the fight for the basketball, Mavericks forward Naji Marshall attempted to poke the ball free from Markkanen’s grasp. Marshall, however ended up hitting Markkanen on the face first before getting the basketball and was promptly whistled for a loose ball foul that even underwent review for a potential hostile act.
Naji Marshall unintentionally hits Lauri Markkanen in the eyes. Lauri went to the locker room with 7:37 remaining in the 4Q, and did not return to the game since. pic.twitter.com/S2yWW5BREh
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) November 15, 2024
Markkanen immediately crumpled to the ground in the aftermath of the poke from Marshall and he was clutching onto his face, forcing the Jazz to take him out of the ballgame for good. And this was for the best, as Markkanen revealed following the game, per Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune, that it was his vision difficulties that prevented him from returning to the game, not the hit to the nose.
The Jazz’s doctors even had to dilate Markkanen’s eye to help him see better, which shows just how impactful the hit from Marshall ended up being. It’s not quite clear as of the moment if Markkanen will have to miss the Jazz’s Saturday night game against the Sacramento Kings, although the silver lining of this is that the knock that kept him out for the final 7:37 of their win over the Mavericks is unrelated to the back injury that he was dealing with.
Before exiting the game for good, Markkanen had another quiet outing for the Jazz. He scored 13 points on 4-8 shooting from the field in 24 minutes, and Utah will be hoping that he rounds into form soon especially after he signed a long-term extension this past offseason.
Jazz get third win of the season in dramatic fashion
It looked as though the Jazz were going to relinquish the 16-point lead that they built so carefully against the Mavericks on Thursday night. Losing Lauri Markkanen did not help matters at all. Utah was outscored 19-11 following Markkanen’s early exit from the ballgame, and if not for the heroics of both Jordan Clarkson and John Collins, the Jazz may have been forced to take another moral victory instead of an actual one that counts in the win column.
It was a team effort that buoyed the Jazz to victory lane. Much has already been made about Clarkson and Collins’ contributions, but the likes of Kyle Filipowski, Keyonte George, and Collin Sexton also deserve their flowers for how they contributed to the win over the Mavericks.
Filipowski, in particular, strung together a few stretches of solid two-way play; he was confident on offense whenever he was given the ball, and he even survived against Luka Doncic on defense on multiple occasions.
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