Utah Jazz forward Derrick Favors missed practice Monday, just one day before Game 1 of Utah’s series against the Golden State Warriors, with a back injury, reports Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Warriors never saw full Utah team in reg season. May not see it in Game 1 Tuesday, as Derrick Favors (back) did not practice today.
— Monte Poole (@MontePooleNBCS) May 1, 2017
The Jazz are already massive underdogs in this series and a Favors injury puts them at an even bigger disadvantage. When the Warriors go small, Favors may be Utah’s best answer to Draymond Green. He’s better switching out onto perimeter guys than Rudy Gobert or Boris Diaw and probably qualifies as Utah’s best small-ball five.
If Gobert gets in foul trouble, as he did in Game 7 against the Los Angeles Clippers, Favors will be Quin Snyder’s first choice off the bench. In that game, Favors scored 17 with 11 rebounds, played good defense and was +15. Utah’s margin for error is razor-thin and if Favors is missing time, it could be enough to end whatever small chance they have at an upset.