Jazz Get Crushing Lauri Markkanen Update Amid Nightmare Start

Detailed summary

The Utah Jazz’s difficult start now includes an extended absence for one of their best players. Lauri Markkanen has sustained a nondisplaced fracture in his right hand and will…

The Utah Jazz’s difficult start now includes an extended absence for one of their best players.

Lauri Markkanen has sustained a nondisplaced fracture in his right hand and will miss at least one month, ESPN’s Shams Charania and Tim MacMahon reported Wednesday.

The news leaves Utah without another established frontcourt option as it tries to recover from a 1-10 start. Markkanen had already missed the previous two games while his injury was being described as a right wrist sprain. The reported timeline now stretches his absence well beyond those initial missed appearances.

Markkanen exited Utah’s Oct. 26 game against Memphis after his hand became caught between a screener and a defender while he moved around a screen. His hand bent backward toward his forearm, and the Jazz ruled him out with a wrist injury.

Jaren Jackson Jr. also left that game with a knee injury, giving Utah two significant frontcourt concerns on the same night.

Markkanen subsequently returned to the lineup and continued producing despite the discomfort. He scored 21 points with 10 rebounds and four assists in an overtime loss to New Orleans on Nov. 4.

Two nights later, he scored 24 points against Dallas, making eight 3-pointers and adding eight rebounds in 34 minutes. Those performances showed how much offense Utah still received from him before he missed the next two games.

Now coach Will Hardy must adjust a rotation already missing Jackson and Jusuf Nurkic.

Jackson has been sidelined with a torn right MCL, while Nurkic has been out with a right foot injury. Keyonte George also missed Tuesday’s game with a right ankle sprain.

Opening of the article, excerpted from Newsweek. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.