Markkanen exits early as Jazz fall to Kings for 4th straight loss

SALT LAKE CITY — Lauri Markkanen grabbed his back in pain near the end of the first half and headed to the locker room.

He never got back to the court.

A day after Taylor Hendricks suffered a season-ending injury, the Jazz got more bad news: Markkanen missed the second half on Tuesday with a lower back spasm.

Not surprisingly, any fleeting hope of Utah’s chances went with him. The Sacramento Kings made easy work over the depleted Jazz, winning 113-96 at the Delta Center Tuesday.

Utah has now opened the season dropping its first four games.

“His back pretty much locked up,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said, adding that when Markkanen still couldn’t move just before halftime the decision was made to hold him out.

Hardy said Markkanen will be day-to-day moving forward.

“He’ll wake up (Wednesday) and get some treatment, and we’ll see how he’s doing, and we won’t make a decision on him until game day,” Hardy said.

Utah’s next game will be on Thursday against the San Antonio Spurs. Though Markkanen’s injury may not be serious, the Jazz do face the challenge of filling Hendricks’ minutes.

So where do they turn?

“There’s going to be a couple of guys,” Hardy said.

That means a young squad is now even younger.

On Tuesday, rookie Cody Williams got his first start in place of Hendricks, finishing with 9 points and two assists in nearly 30 minutes. Kyle Filipowski will also now be part of the rotation; the rookie big man had 12 points and eight rebounds — and even started the second half after Markkanen’s injury.

“This is not a circumstance I wanted to be in the starting lineup, and, obviously, that’s not my concern — my concern is really making sure Taylor was good, he’s healthy, and gets everything he needs,” Williams said.

That said, it’s now an opportunity for him.

He will often be asked to guard the team’s best player, drawing the assignments that often went to Hendricks. He said he’ll talk to his brother in Oklahoma City for guidance.

“He’s guarding four or five positions every night,” he said. “So just talking to him about how he approaches the game, how he approaches the scout, tendencies, and how he studies film.”

Williams had the best shooting game of his young career, connecting on three 3-pointers — the first of which happened to be his first NBA triple. When asked how it felt to see that one go down, he looked up and put his hands together as if praying.

“The lid’s finally off,” he said.

He said that Hendricks’ injury has already taught him a new perspective. Utah was on the second night of a back-to-back on Tuesday and hadn’t got back to Salt Lake City until well past midnight following a loss at Dallas. In simpler times, he might not have been too excited to get back to the arena — but not now.

“He wishes he could fly in at 1 a.m. and play the next day,” he said. “Knowing that everything can change in an instant, and not taking it for granted. I think that kind of allows us to stay locked in and kind of approach the game, because we know we have a teammate who wishes he could be out there.”

Williams was already getting major minutes as one of the first players off the bench; Filipowski, though, is suddenly a full-time member of Hardy’s rotation.

“It’s really sad what’s happened, of course,” Filipowski said. “I don’t think anyone really wants to get more minutes that way, but what I’m just trying to do is just stay ready, just keep working hard in the practices every day, staying ready mentally.”

Filipowski went 5-for-10 from the field, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out a couple of assists.

“He stayed physically in shape and mentally locked in on what we’re trying to do. I thought he played really well,” Hardy said.

Filipowski’s first NBA points came when he drove from the free-throw line and scored over DeMar DeRozan. That set the stage for a solid all-around performance from the rookie.

“It’s a new experience,” Filipowski said. “So just trying to grow as I go along this journey.”