DALLAS (AP) 鈥� Utah forward Taylor Hendricks was wheeled off the floor on a stretcher with a right-leg injury after he landed awkwardly midway through the third quarter of the on Monday night.
The team said Hendricks fractured his right fibula and dislocated his ankle.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a great kid, and so we鈥檙e really just trying to focus on him 鈥� his health, keeping his spirits up, as he begins the road of his recovery,鈥� Jazz coach Will Hardy said. 鈥淏ut these are the moments in sports that suck.鈥�
Hendricks went down to the floor without any contact near the baseline beneath the Jazz鈥檚 basket, his foot landing in an awkward direction.
Hendricks, in his second season, had two points, three rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes making his third consecutive start after starting 23 games of his 40 appearances as a rookie.
鈥淪uper unfortunate,鈥� said Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, who struggled to find words. "We鈥檙e all here for him. It sucks that we lost, but he鈥檚 more important than that. We know how hard he worked the whole summer to be ready for this opportunity, so it sure feels tough for him. We鈥檙e going to stay here for him and support him.
鈥淲e talk about fighting through adversity, whatever it is. Tonight it happened to be that. Nobody can do it alone, so it鈥檚 staying together and trying to work through it and not giving up.鈥�
___
AP NBA:
The Associated Press
