Rudy Gobert Will Make His Return To The Jazz In Game 4

Rudy Gobert is coming back. The Utah Jazz’s game-changing center will play in Game 4 of the team’s Western Conference Quarterfinal series against the Los Angeles Clippers.

The news was originally reported by Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune.

This is a huge addition for the Jazz, as Gobert hasn’t played since the first game of this series. Even then, Gobert didn’t do much – he was hurt within the first minute of the game and hasn’t played since. It’s especially big because this is the first game that the Clippers will play without Blake Griffin, whose season came to an end after he suffered a toe injury in Game 3.

Gobert is one of the frontrunners to be named the 2016-17 Defensive Player of the Year, so he’ll reinforce Utah’s already stingy defense – the Clippers have only eclipsed 100 points once in the series so far, and the Jazz were third in the league in defensive efficiency this year. When you mix that with the fact that the Clippers won’t have their best scorer in Griffin, this is the kind of thing that can alter the course of this series.

Los Angeles currently holds a 2-1 lead over the Jazz, but with Gobert back, this is a completely different series. In addition to his fantastic defense, Gobert is a tricky offensive player who averaged 14 points per game during the regular season. It still remains to be seen how much he will play tonight, and what his availability will look like for the remainder of the series.