Los Angeles • Hours before the tipoff of their game against the L.A. Clippers, the Utah Jazz got good news from across town.
Point guard Dante Exum had successful surgery to stabilize the AC joint in his left shoulder on Tuesday morning. The operation was performed in Los Angeles by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, and gave the Jazz a hopeful update for their fourth-year prospect.
While Utah offered no timetable for Exum’s recovery, it’s believed he will miss most or all of the 2017-18 season. The Jazz said he would return immediately to Salt Lake City to begin recovery.
Exum was in the thoughts of his teammates and coaches as he went under the knife.
“Just checking on him and making sure things are going good,” coach Quin Snyder said. “I know he’s excited about getting back and trying to rehabilitate.”
After playing in 66 games last year, Exum was expected to take an increased role this year before injuring his shoulder during a preseason collision against the Phoenix Suns earlier this month. It’s his second long-term injury in his NBA career since being drafted fifth overall in 2014.
Rookie Donovan Mitchell grew close with Exum during summer league and said it was hard, knowing what Exum had done in the offseason, to see him deal with injury.
“Just praying because I know he really worked hard this summer,” he said. “Having seen that, it was definitely tough. Just praying for a speedy recovery.”
Ingles fined
for groin shot
One of the question marks for Tuesday’s lineup, Joe Ingles, was suffering from a bout of gastrointestinal distress and unable to “hold down food or fluid” for at least a day prior to tipoff.
While he was able to start against the Clippers, Ingles also felt a pinch in his wallet.
The NBA announced Tuesday afternoon that the forward was fined $15,000 for striking Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams in the groin area. A video replay showed him reaching out to hit Adams on a defensive possession. Adams later drew a technical foul in a confrontation with Ingles.
Ingles was not available before Tuesday’s game to comment on the incident or his fine.
Teodosic injured
Milos Teodosic waited until he was 30 to get his NBA career started, but he’ll have to wait a little longer to make an impact.
The point guard, a signature addition of the Clippers’ offseason, left his last game with an injury to his left plantar fascia. Coach Doc Rivers said it’s not a tear, but “whatever he did, he did it well.” Teodosic is expected to miss significant time.
It was an opportunity that may have helped Quin Snyder in terms of the game, but he was disappointed to not have a chance to coach against a former player. Teodosic played for CSKA Moscow when Snyder was an assistant there, and he described himself recently as Teodosic’s “biggest fan.”
“He’s a unique player: He’s just got a sense — he’s artistic in the way he plays the game,” Snyder said. “You don’t have to watch for long to see that he’s a guy people like playing with.”