Utah Jazz: Alec Burks Fractures Ankle, To Miss At Least Six Weeks
By Aaron Mah
The Utah Jazz dropped their second consecutive game Saturday night and to add insult to injury, they will also lose the services of Alec Burks for at least six weeks.
The Utah Jazz’s already shallow depth took another hit this weekend when their sixth man dynamo, Alec Burks, suffered a fractured ankle during their loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, per Yahoo Sports.
Burks injured his foot when veteran forward, Paul Pierce, laid forth a rather hard “common” foul on the fifth year combo guard. He would be seen wearing a walking boot on his left ankle after the game.
After conducting an MRI Sunday morning, Jazz officials determined the injury to be a fracture, where Burks is expected to miss at least six weeks — in other words, he could be absent until after the All-Star Break in mid-February.
Alec Burks to miss at least six weeks. https://t.co/oJWShJEyVk pic.twitter.com/SGKlRtMA0H
— HoopsHype (@hoopshype) December 27, 2015
On a team in dire need of scoring, Alec Burks provided a brand of breathtaking explosiveness seldom seen from a 6’6″, long-armed secondary ballhandler.
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Not only did he serve as the team’s scoring punch off of the bench, averaging over 14.3 points and 3.6 assists per game this season, but his ability to initiate the offense to some extent allowed coach Quinn Snyder to deploy the Jazz’s famed “three wing lineup” — which featured Alec Burks, Rodney Hood and Gordon Hayward out on the perimeter, without the presence of a traditional point guard.
Burks also missed significant time last year, appearing in only 27 games after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. This was after signing a four-year, $42 million extension which kicked in at the start of the incumbent campaign.
Without Alec Burks, the Jazz will have to turn to the likes of Trey Burke and Rodney Hood to assume even larger roles.
It’ll be interesting to see if Snyder decides to shake up his rotation in an effort to fill Burks’ void. The Jazz’s radio voice, David Locke, have even suggested Utah to start “Jingling” Joe Ingles and bring Rodney Hood off of the bench to replicate their steady second unit production.
Random thought - If Alec Burks is out for extended period do you start
— David Locke (@DLocke09) December 27, 2015
Ingles and have Hood fill AB roll off the bench?
The Jazz have already felt the unforgiving wrath of the basketball gods this season — first, starting point guard, Dante Exum, suffered a torn ACL during the summer, and starting center, Rudy Gobert, has missed the last three weeks with a knee injury (although he is expected to return soon) — so dealing with their latest rotation dampening malady is nothing new.
Whether the extended absence of Burks calls for an even more aggressive Hayward — one that approaches a Paul George-esque level of usage — or an expanded role for their auxiliary playmakers like Trey Burke and Rodney Hood, Utah will have to find a remedy rather quickly as they’ve dropped two games in a row and have won just three of their last 10 contests.
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While the Jazz still find themselves clinging desperately onto the eighth seed of the underperforming mid-tier of the Western Conference, the Sacramento Kings are sitting just a half game back from encroaching past Utah in the conference standings.