The Jazz and Heat played in a sloppy, ugly slugfest of a game on Friday night in Miami, with the Heat coming out with an 84-74 victory. It was a defensive struggle for both teams, but the Jazz had the biggest issues in the third quarter as they were held to only eight points.
In that quarter, Utah saw its star player, center Rudy Gobert, leave the game with a left knee injury after Dion Waiters fell into his knee diving for a loose ball. Or, at least, that’s what Waiters would say he was doing.
While Gobert was able to return to the game in the fourth quarter, he was very unhappy after the game with the play by Waiters. Gobert felt it was a deliberate attempt by Waiters to dive into his knee, a play that Gobert says has caused an MCL injury to him in the past. The Jazz star center voiced his displeasure after the game with reporters and took to Twitter to question the motive of Waiters and whether he was really diving for the ball.
Dove for the ball right… https://t.co/0xnXZVy2eG
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) November 11, 2017
NOOOOOOOOO!!!! Rudy Gobert taken off the court as Dion Waiters runs into Rudy Gobert's knee. pic.twitter.com/kxFRyQkxmj
— Dave Noriega (@davenoriega) November 11, 2017
Gobert told reporters after the game he felt it was a “dirty play.”
“He just dove right into my knee,” Gobert claimed afterward, according to the Deseret News. “Kind of like the same thing that happened before on my MCL, so my knee just went inside and kind of popped inside and back out.”
“I was feeling a little sore,” he said. “I know that my ligaments were fine, so it was just pain.”
“It feels better than it looked on the video,” he said. “I think it was a dirty play, but no matter what the most important thing is to keep getting better.”
Luckily, it appears Gobert won’t miss any time due to the collision, but don’t expect Waiters to be getting any cards from the Jazz’s big man this holiday season.
