To say that the Utah Jazz have been struggling would be an understatement. This team has lost nine of their last 12 games and have struggled to find their identity on offense without All-Star Lauri Markkanen. After missing the last eight games due to a hamstring injury, Markkanen appears to be on track to return Wednesday night against the New York Knicks.

Markkanen, who was originally listed as questionable for Utah's home game against the Knicks has been upgraded to probable and will make his return to the court barring a setback in pre-game warmups.

Named an All-Star for the first time in his career last season, Markkanen has once again proven to be one of the best scoring forwards in the league this year. In a total of 15 games this season, the Jazz star has averaged 23.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game while shooting 48.4 percent from the floor and 38.3 percent from three-point range. Markkanen is the only player on Utah's roster averaging over 17 points per game this season.

While they did go 3-5 without Markkanen in the lineup, the Jazz managed to average just 104.8 points per game during this span. On the season, Utah has averaged 111.3 points per game as a team.

Markkanen's return is exactly what the Jazz need at this point in the season, especially since they have a ton of other injury concerns piling up. Jordan Clarkson is set to miss time with a hamstring injury and John Collins will miss his second consecutive game due to an illness. In addition to Markkanen being upgraded, big man Walker Kessler was also upgraded from questionable to probable with his foot injury.

At this time, it is unknown if Lauri Markkanen will face a minutes restriction in his return.