After being left off the afternoon’s injury reports ahead of the Utah Jazz’s matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night, Utah All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen is a late starter for this battle of rebuilding clubs, expected to begin at 7 p.m :00 PT begins Moda Center. According to the NBA’s latest injury report, Markkanen is suffering from a lower back injury.

If one wants to be cynical about this move, an observer might say that Jazz team president Danny Ainge may be worried that his tanking team might inadvertently beat another Western Conference scum, the Trail Blazers, who also have one Have a lot of injuries. Typically, Utah doesn’t have to use its best player to lose. The team is generally so young and raw that they can lose to anyone not named the Washington Wizards. But a Jazz club missing four rotation players could actually be in for a loss. With both clubs competing for lottery balls and the right to draft Duke phenom Cooper Flagg in next summer’s 2025 NBA Draft, any win is dangerous.

Read more: Several stars are out of the Blazers vs. Jazz matchup

Or maybe Markkanen is just injured. The 7-foot Arizona product is averaging his lowest point total since transferring to Utah in 2022, still a solid 19.2 points on .452/.385/.854 shooting distributions, in 17 games for the 4-17 Jazz , the bottom seed in the Western Conference. He also posted his lowest rebound mark since the trade with 6.5 boards, plus 2.2 assists and 0.7 steals.

Key guard Jordan Clarkson (left plantar fasciitis) is out, as is Taylor Hendricks (right fibula fracture). Kyle Filipowski and Cody Williams and two-way players David Jones Garcia and Oscar Tshiebwe are all with Utah’s NBAGL franchise, the Salt Lake City Stars. Combo guard Collin Sexton, who was a game-time decision because of an avulsion fracture of his left fourth finger, was upgraded to available.

The four Portland rotation players mentioned above who will miss Friday’s contest are centers Donovan Clingan (left knee sprain) and Robert Williams III (concussion protocol), point guard Scoot Henderson (left quadriceps contusion) and shooting guard/small Forward Matisse Thybulle (right ankle sprain). ).

According to sports betting aggregator The Action Network, the Trail Blazers are four-point favorites to win at home. If team general manager Joe Cronin were forced to trust the truth, he would probably admit that he hopes Portland doesn’t.

Other Trail Blazers: Portland is in position to secure multiple draft picks in potential trade for center