Gordon Hayward Exits Game 4 of Clippers vs. Jazz Due to Food Poisoning

The Utah Jazz announced star forwardGordon Hayward was ruled out for the remainder of Sunday's playoff game against the Los Angeles Clippers with food poisoning after he played nine minutes in the first half.Injuries have rarely been a problem for Hayward since joining the NBA. The 27-year-old played in 80 games a year ago and has never missed more than 10 games in any of his seven seasons in the league.A broken finger suffered in the preseason forced him to miss the first six games of the 2016-17 regular season, and it limited him at times as the season progressed, but he still has been a force throughout the campaign.Hayward has emerged as one of the top small forwards in the NBA and earned his first All-Star appearance this season. He averaged a career-high 21.9 points per game to go with 5.4 rebounds while shooting 39.8 percent from three-point range.His performance has turned Utah into a legitimate contender in the Western Conference. Even though the team survived extended periods without George Hill, Derrick Favors and Rodney Hood, losing Hayward for more than Game 4 could be devastating.Joe Johnson and Joe Ingles will likely see more playing time with the All-Star unavailable, but the pressure will be on the entire roster to pick up some of the scoring slack.
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