Utah Jazz: Watson to be game-time decision against Nets

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Jazz reserve point guard Earl Watson will be a game-time decision for tonight's contest against the New Jersey Nets after suffering a knee injury in Wednesday night's overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Watson, who's in his second season with the Jazz and 11th NBA season overall, had magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests done on his left knee Thursday after leaving in the fourth quarter of Wednesday's game.

The test results came back normal, as Watson was diagnosed with a bone bruise on the front of his left knee joint and did not practice Friday. Watson, who played his college ball at UCLA, has appeared in all 10 games thus far this season, averaging 3.6 points, 4.3 assists and 1.8 rebounds per game.

REVISITING LOSS TO LAKERS: Utah's players and coaches had every right to be feeling awfully frustrated with their overtime defeat against the L.A. Lakers on Wednesday.

But Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin was proud of his team's effort and looked at the loss as a potential positive learning experience for his players.

"I give our guys a lot of credit," he said. "We busted our tails and they played hard on both ends of the floor. We had a chance to win the game, we just didn't get the shot at the end.

"We have to learn from it. We learned that we can play against anybody in this league if we play right.

"If we play hard, we compete as a team, we count on each other and we trust that guys are gonna do the right things, then we've got a chance," Corbin said. "And that's the most encouraging part about it."

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