Mike Conley injury update: Jazz guard remains out with hamstring strain for Game 5 against Clippers

Conley injured his hamstring in Game 5 of Utah's first-round series

The Utah Jazz will once again be without Mike Conley for Game 5 against the Los Angeles Clippers as the veteran guard continues to deal with a hamstring injury, the team announced Wednesday. 

Conley suffered a right hamstring strain in Game 5 of Utah's first-round series against the Grizzlies, and has not played since. The Jazz got out to a 2-0 series lead against the Clippers, but the following two losses illustrated how crucial he is to this team's success, as Donovan Mitchell has been the only member of the Jazz who has been consistent on offense in the last two games.

Against the Grizzlies, Conley averaged 17.4 points. 8.6 assists and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 46 percent from the floor and a scorching 54 percent from long range. That's a significant amount of production missing from Utah's lineup, and the Jazz would be better equipped to beat the Clippers with him on the floor. 

Prior to the start of the series Conley was optimistic about his ability to play in the second round, saying "my mindset is, I'm going to be ready to play." But so far that has happened yet. Perhaps he'll be ready to go for Game 6, but hamstring strains are difficult injuries to predict, given that Conley missed a significant amount of time during the regular season with the same issue. 

For now, Utah will have to continue to lean on Mitchell and Joe Ingles to initiate the offense against a tough Clippers team and hope that Conley's return is around the corner.