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SALT LAKE CITY — There's been worry brewing among Utah Jazz fans ever since they saw Mike Conley walk into the locker room midway through the second quarter.
They got some relief on Thursday — but only just some.
Conley underwent an MRI Thursday morning to determine the significance of what he called a "little tug" in his hamstring. The verdict? The Jazz starting point guard suffered a mild right hamstring strain. Conley will be re-evaluated before Game 1 of Utah's second-round series.
The obvious good news: The team didn't call it a tear.
The obvious bad news: Conley doesn't have a lot of time to recover.
When Utah plays its first game of the next series is still to be determined as they await the winner of the Dallas Mavericks-Los Angeles Clippers series. The Mavericks currently lead the series 3-2.
If the Mavericks prevail on Friday against the Clippers, Game 1 for Utah would likely be on Sunday. A Clippers victory in Game 6 would give Conley at least a couple more days to heal up.
If the teams play a potential Game 7 on Sunday, it would push the start of the Jazz's second-round series to no earlier than Tuesday. That's a difference of about 2.5 days of rest.
But even that might not be enough time considering Conley's hamstring history this season.
Conley, who averaged 20 points and 10 assists in the four full games he played in the first-round victory against his former team the Memphis Grizzlies, has missed chunks of time twice already this season with right hamstring issues.
He missed six games in February with hamstring tightness, and nine more games after re-aggravating the injury at the end of April.
Still, Coney said on Wednesday that his hamstring didn't feel as bad as it did those other times. And it wasn't a tear — so there's still hope.
"My mindset is set on playing and being ready to go, so I'll do whatever I can to do that." Conley said.
