Jazz won’t be the same without Ricky Rubio, but all hope is not lost

Ricky Rubio will not be on the court for the Utah Jazz for about 10 days with a hamstring injury.

Ricky Rubio had a brilliant series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and he helped the Utah Jazz advance to the Western Conference semifinals. He even dropped a triple-double against Russell Westbrook, who is a triple-double machine.

News came out today though that Rubio won’t be available for around 10 days after a hamstring injury. Adrian Wojnarowski was on the ball, as always.

This is a major bummer for Rubio. He was playing some of the best basketball of his life in a system that works for his skillset, and he is the perfect player to set up rookie Donovan Mitchell for open shots. Rubio put up the first playoff triple-double for Utah since John Stockton, and that is good company.

Mitchell’s job is going to be a lot harder against the Houston Rockets with Rubio out. The Jazz will have to get creative with who they trust to handle the ball, and they’ll probably use Dante Exum at point guard a lot more for at least the next ten days. David Stockton, J. Stockton’s son, is also lingering as an option at the guard position. So keep an eye on that.

Exum isn’t a skilled shooter, but the younger Stockton shot over 66 percent from the 3-point line during the season. The only trouble is that he was signed late in the year and has only attempted three shots from that range.

Next: Best NBA Teams To Never Win NBA Finals

The Jazz will have to put a lot of the offense on Mitchell’s shoulders, especially against a historically stacked team like the Rockets, but he appears capable of carrying the load. There is still hope. But it will take a truly brilliant week from him to keep Utah afloat until they get their point guard back.