Jazz-Trail Blazers Injury Report: Many Key Starters Set to Sit Out

After finally putting an end to their four-game losing streak last week, the Utah Jazz are looking to build on their success with their second contest of the In-Season Tournament against the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers also enter the night with a 1-0 record in the tourney but have been victim to three straight losses, looking to bounce back with a win to take them to four on the year.

As far as the injury forecast goes, the Jazz are still to be without their second-year big man, Walker Kessler, as he deals with a nagging elbow injury. However, outside of The Sheriff and their typical G-League assignments (Taylor Hendricks and Brice Sensabaugh), this roster should be pretty set and ready to go.

With Kessler out, we can expect the starting lineup to look similar to the way it did during Utah’s second game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday. Rookie Keyonte George secured his second career start, slotted next to Ochai Agbaji at the two and John Collins sliding down to the five.

For the Trail Blazers, their backcourt looks to be a bit thin for Tuesday. Second-overall selection Scoot Henderson has been sidelined since earlier this month with an ankle injury and will continue to miss some action for around two more weeks. Acting starter Malcolm Brogdon will also be out for this game against Utah who’s dealing with a hamstring injury.

Combine this with the team already losing pieces like Anfernee Simons (thumb) and Robert Williams, and you start to see how short-handed the Blazers are this early into the season. Look for other talented players on the roster, like Jerami Grant and Shaedon Sharpe, to take a step up in their absence.

The Jazz will take on the Blazers with hopes of getting their second-straight In-Season Tournament.

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