Several Jazz Stars Ruled Out Ahead of Pacers Game

Multiple players for the Jazz will miss this game against the Pacers.

Feb 3, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) protects the ball from Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard (2) during the second quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images | Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images

The Indiana Pacers are trying to keep up the momentum that they have been building late in the season. They have played well enough to essentially seal up the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Right now, they are three games behind the Knicks for third. They also have a three-game lead on both the Bucks and the Pistons for the fourth spot.

It looks like they will have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, no matter which of those two teams they end up facing. It's something they have been working on in the last few weeks.

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Indiana is taking on a bad Utah Jazz team on Friday night. They are a team that is trying to lose games so that they improve their odds of landing the top pick.

Because the Jazz don't really want to win many games, several big-time players for them are ruled out for this game. Most of their best players won't face the Pacers.

Utah's four best players will be missing from the lineup in this game. Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Jordan Clarkson, and Walker Kessler will all miss this game.

Indiana has had some problems getting up for games against the worst teams in the league. They have no issues going toe-to-toe with playoff teams, but bad teams seem to give them an issue.

While the Pacers can't really improve their seeding much more, they still want to continue to play good basketball. They want to keep their momentum going heading into the first round of the playoffs.

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Indiana is trying to stay healthy themselves. They have a few guys who are nursing some injuries as the playoffs approach. They have to stay healthy to make another deep run.

The Pacers are a really good team when everyone is healthy. They might not be incentivized to play all of their starters in all of the games left in the regular season.

If the Pacers can't beat the Jazz with them missing all of their best players, they have some concerning conversations that need to take place.

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