Friday night has a chance to be incredibly special in San Antonio — but the Jazz are hoping to do the exact opposite.
In what is now their fourth game in just six days, Utah looks to prevent Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich from becoming the all-time winningest coach in NBA history when these two teams meet. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. MST.
While NBA history has a chance to be made, the Jazz will be without their own record-setter.
After leaving Wednesday’s game in the middle of the third quarter with a right leg contusion, Bojan Bogdanovic will miss Friday’s contest as Utah looks to be extra cautious with the high-scoring forward.
It’s a tough loss for the Jazz as Bogdanovic has been on a tear since the calendar flipped to March.
He’s averaging 21.2 points on 52% shooting from beyond the arc, including a record-breaking performance when he knocked down 11 three-pointers last Sunday. If not for a rough game against New Orleans — right before the franchise record for threes — Bogdanovic would be averaging 25.3 points in the month.
With Bogdanovic recovering, it could be a nice opening for Mike Conley and Rudy Gay, both of whom have struggled as of late but showed spurts of breaking out of their funk following Wednesday’s victory over Portland.
While Conley had just five points in the game, he moved well on the court and appeared much more physically ready. He looked comfortable again and could control the offense as he had in the past, as evidenced by his five assists.
After coming over in free agency, it’s been a rough stretch of things for Gay after dealing with health and safety protocols and injuries. But he’s finally finding a rhythm again on both ends of the court, playing his most minutes Wednesday night since Feb. 2.
“I wanted to try and get him (Rudy) some extra minutes, just help him get back out there,” head coach Quin Snyder said of Gay on Wednesday night.
Even though Popovich and the Spurs are going for history on Friday, the Jazz can’t afford to lose focus and give up a game.
The battle for playoff positioning in the Western Conference continues to heat up as five games separate second-seeded Memphis and sixth-seeded Denver. Utah is firmly planted in the fourth spot, three games behind Golden State and 1.5 games ahead of Dallas.
The good news is that the Jazz have turned things around after a disastrous January to win 10 of their past 13 games, solidifying their spot to host in the opening round of the playoffs.
STATSUtah (41-24, 18-14 away / No. 4 Western Conference)Offense*113.7 Points Per Game (No. 5 in NBA)*116.9 Offensive Rating (No. 1 in NBA)
Defense*107.3 Points Per Game (No. 10 in NBA)*109.6 Defensive Rating (No. 10 in NBA)
*Donovan Mitchell: 25.5 points / 5.4 assists / 4.0 rebounds / 1.6 steals*Rudy Gobert: 15.5 points / 14.7 rebounds / 2.2 blocks / 71.3% shooting *Mike Conley: 13.3 points / 5.2 assists / 40.1% 3P-shooting*Jordan Clarkson: 15.8 points / 3.3 rebonds / 2.3 assists
San Antonio (25-41, 12-20 home / No. 12 Western Conference)Offense*112.7 Points Per Game (No. 7 in NBA)*111.3 Offensive Rating (No. 15 in NBA)
Defense*113.0 Points Per Game (No. 25 in NBA)*111.4 Defensive Rating (No. 19 in NBA)
*Dejounte Murray: 20.6 points / 9.4 assists / 8.4 rebounds / 2.1 steals*Keldon Johnson: 16.1 points / 6.0 rebounds / 41.0% 3P-shooting*Jakob Poetl: 13.5 points / 9.1 rebounds / 1.7 blocks
MATCHUP TO WATCH*Mike Conley vs. Dejounte Murray— Conley’s struggles of late have been well-documented, but a good showing on Wednesday night where he looked quick and moved with relative ease was definitely a sign in the right direction — made even better by his five assists. But while he’s still working into form, Murray has proven that his hot start to the season as no fluke as he’s been one of the best players all year long.
INJURY REPORTUtahOUT — Udoka Azubuike (G League - On Assignment)OUT — Bojan Bogdanovic (right lower leg contusion)OUT — Jared Butler (G League - On Assignment)OUT — Xavier Sneed (G League - Two-Way)
San AntonioPROBABLE — Devontae Cacok (Left Heel Contusion)DOUBTFUL — Keita Bates-Diop (Low Back Soreness)DOUBTFUL — Joshua Primo (Stomach Illness)OUT — Romeo Langford (Right Hamstring Strain)OUT — DJ Stewart (G League - Two-Way)OUT — Robert Woodward (G League - Two-Way)
BROADCAST INFORMATIONTime: 6:30 p.m. MSTLocation: AT&T Center / San Antonio, TXTV: AT&T SportsNetRadio: 1280 The Zone