NBA Power Rankings: Cleveland Cavaliers ruin Christmas

8. team. 118. Just like the Boston Celtics, the Utah Jazz have been hurt more by injuries this year than by anything their opponents have done. They began the year very deep at guard, but are now without Alec Burks (out since late September following knee and ankle surgeries), George Hill (out since December 1st with a left toe sprain), and Dante Exum (out since December 21st with patella tendinitis in his right knee). Those three players being down leaves them with Shelvin Mack, Raul Neto, Joe Ingles, Rodney Hood and Gordon Hayward as their guard options. Hood and Hayward are more than capable of playing heavy guard minutes, but the other three names leave the team less than enthused. What works in the Jazz’s favor is that they play at the slowest pace in the entire NBA and the fact that they have Rudy Gobert. Playing slow means less taxing minutes on a smaller rotation and having Gobert means that they’ll always be able to defend the rim regardless of who’s on the court with him. This team has done well to hang around just high enough in the standings that once their roster returns to full strength they’ll have a shot to move their way up in the playoff picture.. 19-13. Previous: . Utah Jazz