Utah Jazz: Mo Williams sits; Murphy likely to be sent to Reno

Sacramento, Calif. • Mo Williamsmissed his second game with his third injury of the season Saturday, when he was held out of the Jazz's game against the Kings.

The veteran point guard's return to the team that drafted him has been productive, but also hampered by illness and injuries, the latest of which was suffered in the first quarter of the Jazz's 104-102 win over Sacramento at EnergySolutions Arena. Williams jumped to defend a 3-point basket by the Kings' Aaron Brooks and landed awkwardly.

He rolled onto his right ankle, doing damage to the side of his foot. By late Saturday, Williams was unable to do anything on the foot and was in a walking boot.

"Just a lot of swelling," Williams said. "Mobility's not there, so take it one game at a time."

Williams missed two preseason games with a strained right adductor, the same injury that kept him out of the Jazz's Nov. 10 win over Phoenix.

The guard has also been hampered by a right thumb injury, which he suffered and subsequently aggravated in back-to-back games on the Jazz's East Coast road trip 10 days ago.

It's unclear how quickly Williams will be able to get back into action. His status, however, seems to the be the determining factor for another roster move.

The Jazz left rookie guard Kevin Murphy at home Friday when they left for Sacramento, intending to send him on an assignment to the Reno Bighorns of the D-League. However, if Williams remains out, the Jazz are likely to hang on to Murphy as a last line of defense in their backcourt.

Murphy has appeared in just two games for the Jazz, scoring four points in six minutes.

Corbin said the Jazz would like Murphy to get more game time, as well as practice. With the Jazz's depth and busy early-season schedule, the most logical way to do it would be in the D-League.

It was a decision — although now up in the air — that Corbin said Murphy was onboard with.

"He understood completely," Corbin said. "I wanted to reassure him that he's still part of us, that he's with the Jazz. We just want to have the time here, we're not going to have a chance to get a lot of practice in."

Not counting Murphy, the Jazz have utilized the D-League 15 times with five players, including, most recently, Jeremy Evans. Evans spent two days with the now-defunct Utah Flash in March 2011.

boram@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribjazz