The Utah Jazz are heading into Tuesday night’s second preseason meeting with the Denver Nuggets minus Lauri Markkanen.
Utah’s latest update ruled Markkanen out with neck soreness, leaving the Jazz without their top frontcourt star for the rematch. The timing is notable because Markkanen had been fully healthy entering the preseason, then opened his first exhibition by leading the team with 17 points on 5-12 shooting from the field and 3-7 from three.
The Jazz may simply be taking the cautious route here. With the regular season still a couple of weeks away, there’s little reason to push a player of Markkanen’s importance in an exhibition setting if soreness is part of the picture. He’ll sit, though, and that changes the look of Utah’s second game against Denver.
Markkanen’s absence adds to a growing list of unavailable Jazz players for this one. Kyle Filipowski is out with back soreness, Jusuf Nurkic is sidelined by a foot issue, and Brice Sensabaugh is out with a hip injury. Two of those players were already sitting this weekend.
That opens the door for more minutes and more shots for the rest of the roster. It also puts a little more spotlight on Ace Bailey and Darryn Peterson, Utah’s pair of top-five picks from the last two drafts. Both logged more than 20 minutes in the first preseason game over the weekend, and they could see similar usage again here.
Bailey may also slide into his usual starting spot, lining up next to Peterson on the wing with Keyonte George and Jaren Jackson Jr.
With Nurkic unavailable, the Jazz will need a different answer at center. The likeliest option is Jaxson Hayes, who played 19 minutes on Sunday and finished with two points, three rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. MT, with Utah looking for a second straight preseason win over Denver.
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