Utah guard Dante Exum out indefinitely with knee injury

Utah guard Dante Exum, who returned from an ankle sprain he sustained in early January to play briefly in the Jazz's last three games, is now out indefinitely with a knee injury, the team announced on Friday. Exum, the 23-year-old from Australia, is no stranger to injuries, and now he has a partially torn patellar tendon in his right knee, a diagnosis confirmed by an MRI exam. The team said Exum will look for more input on the best way to treat the injury.

"It's really tough. He's worked his butt off this season. For that to happen, it's tough," teammate Donovan Mitchell told KSL.com. "But we're here for him. Everyone here is wishing him well and wants him back. I don't know the extent of his injury, but I know that we are here for him." In 42 games, Exum is averaging 6.9 points, 2.6 assists and 1.6 rebounds per game. He sprained his left ankle in the second quarter in Detroit against the Pistons on Jan. 5. His return was anticipated before the All-Star break, but delayed until this week.

After missing 25 games, he played a combined 27 minutes in games on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, going 0 of 7 from the field and being held scoreless. Exum suffered a torn ACL in 2015, costing him the 2015-16 season, and was limited to only 14 regular-season games at the end of 2017-18 because of shoulder surgery. A hamstring strain also forced him out of the second round of the postseason that year. The Jazz are 39-29 and in the seventh spot in the Western Conference, one-half game in front of the Los Angeles Clippers. 

(With inputs from agencies.)