Jusuf Nurkic returns to Jazz practice in a limited role, but stays out against the Lakers with a toe tear

Jusuf Nurkic is back on the practice floor with the Utah Jazz, a first visible step in his recovery from a right foot injury, but the veteran center remains out for Sunday’s home game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Nurkic took part in Saturday’s practice in a limited role, according to video shared by Shreyas Laddha of the Salt Lake Tribune. The league’s official injury report, filed Sunday morning, still lists him as out with a tear of the plantar plate in his right second toe, so the Jazz will open a back-to-back without him for the third straight regular-season game.

Game Center: Lakers at Jazz, preview, box score and play-by-play

Where the timeline stands

Nurkic played in Utah’s first preseason game against the Denver Nuggets and has not appeared since. Chris Haynes reported on October 7 that the injury was a partial plantar plate tear and that Nurkic would miss at least four weeks, with the exact return depending on how the toe responds. Four weeks from that report lands in the first days of November, which is why a return in early to mid-November is the realistic target if practice goes smoothly. The Jazz have not issued an updated timetable, and limited practice work is not the same as clearance for contact or games.

Plantar plate injuries sit at the base of the toe and take load every time a big man plants and pushes off, which is why teams tend to be patient with them. A setback would push the date back; the next sign of progress would be full participation in practice.

What it means for the rotation

Nurkic was in line to start at center this season after anchoring the middle for most of last year, when he averaged 10.9 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 41 games and started all but five of them. Without him, coach Will Hardy has leaned on Jaren Jackson Jr. in the frontcourt and on Jaxson Hayes off the bench. Hayes was the difference in Friday’s 120-119 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, scoring 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting in just under 26 minutes, while Jackson posted 24 points and 10 rebounds and Ace Bailey moved into the starting five.

Tony Bradley, signed for size while Nurkic is sidelined, is off Sunday’s injury report after appearing on it for the previous two games, which gives Hardy another true center for the back-to-back. Utah is 1-1 after a 123-103 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in the opener and the one-point win over New Orleans.

The Lakers will be without Cameron Carr (right oblique strain) and Adou Thiero (left knee swelling), while Walker Kessler is listed as available with a splint on his left finger in his first game back in Salt Lake City since leaving the Jazz.

What comes next

The Jazz host the Lakers on Sunday, October 25, at 5 p.m. ET (midnight Cairo time) at the Delta Center, then stay home to face the Grizzlies on Monday, October 26, at 9 p.m. ET (Game Center: Grizzlies at Jazz). Nurkic’s status for both games, and any change in his practice workload, will show up on the league’s injury report and on our NBA injury tracker.