Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert surprisingly beat his recovery timetable for a knee injury by playing in Monday’s 116-69 demolition of a win over the Washington Wizards at home. That said, Jazz head coach Quin Snyder will continue playing it safe with Gobert, as he intends to manage The Stifle Tower’s minutes in Tuesday’s matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder and for the rest of the week, per Erik Home of The Oklahoman.
Quin Snyder said Jazz will monitor Rudy Gobert tonight on second night of back to back but not specific about a restriction on minutes.
— Erik Horne (@ErikkHorne) December 5, 2017
Prior to playing against the Wizards, Gobert missed 11 consecutive games due to a bone bruise in his right knee, which he sustained after colliding with Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters in a Nov. 10 home game. The Jazz, however, were able to weather Gobert’s absence successfully, as they went 7-4 during that stretch thanks to the effective play of Derrick Favors and the spectacular showing of rookie guard Donovan Mitchell.
Against the Wizards, Gobert scored just four points but grabbed 10 rebounds, made three assists, and swatted away two shots across just 21 minutes of action also because of the blowout nature of the game. Gobert is averaging 32.8 minutes per game this season, but it seems it’ll take some more time before Snyder gives the center that number of minutes in a game again.
How Snyder plans to plot Gobert’s minutes for the Thunder game, however, could have a big impact on the way he will shuffle his rotation, especially with Rodney Hood ruled out and Raul Neto’s status being a game-time decision, per Kyle Goon of The Salt Lake Tribune.
Some of you may already be aware, but I’m just getting off a plane: Rodney Hood is OUT tonight, and Raul Neto is QUESTIONABLE with foot soreness.
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) December 5, 2017
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