against the Indiana Pacers, Utah travels to the Sacramento Kings. Then, the Jazz face the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers at home, followed by a three-game road trip that starts in Atlanta.

Even with a lot of road games to start January, the schedule eases up for the Jazz following the All-Star break and into March and early April. More importantly, Utah’s starting to get a bit healthier, despite losing Thabo Sefolosha to a potentially season-ending knee injury.

Center Rudy Gobert is close to a return, and could be back by the end of the week. Backup point guard Raul Neto returned on Monday night against the Pacers. Point guard Dante Exum — who has yet to play this season — is back on the court working outguard Raul Neto played in his first game in a month. He suffered a concussion and a bone bruise against the Milwaukee Bucks and had to wait for the bone bruise to recover before he could pass concussion protocol. He played 12 minutes in the game and tallied five points and three assists.