Utah Jazz star Lauri Markkanen will be sidelined for at least a month after scans revealed fractures in his right hand, another major blow to a Jazz team already missing much of its starting lineup.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on X on Wednesday that Markkanen sustained a non-displaced fracture in his right hand and will miss at least one month. The Jazz confirmed the injury later in the day in an official update, saying Markkanen was diagnosed with two nondisplaced fractures in his right hand and will be reevaluated in four weeks.
According to the team, Markkanen was hurt during Utah’s Nov. 6 game against the Dallas Mavericks. ESPN reported that he was hit on the hand in that loss, and that an initial X-ray did not show the fracture. Further scans after the team returned to Utah revealed the cracks.
The injury comes on top of a sprained right wrist that ESPN said Markkanen had already been playing through. The Deseret News reported that he first hurt the wrist in an Oct. 26 home loss to Memphis, missed one game, then returned for four games. The Salt Lake Tribune, citing a team source, reported the hand fractures are unrelated to the wrist injury.
Markkanen had been putting up strong numbers before the setback. NBA.com reported the 29-year-old forward was averaging 18.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in eight games, shooting 39.7% from 3-point range. In his last appearance against Dallas, he scored 24 points and hit eight 3-pointers.
The timing is rough for Utah. The Salt Lake Tribune noted that Markkanen is the third Jazz starter to miss multiple weeks, joining Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkic. Guard Keyonte George also sprained his ankle Sunday against Minnesota, according to the Jazz, leaving Darryn Peterson and Ace Bailey to carry the scoring load in Tuesday’s 115-109 loss to the Miami Heat.
The team did not give a firm return date. A four-week reevaluation would put Markkanen’s next checkup around Dec. 9.
Sources: Utah Jazz injury update, ESPN’s Shams Charania on X, ESPN, NBA.com, The Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News.
Photo: “Sunset on the Hoop,” Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0 public domain dedication. Generic image; not a photo of the player or team.
