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HOUSTON — The celebration in Salt Lake City Ethan Pocic Jersey , well-deserved following a tense and hard-fought series victory over Oklahoma City, went from unbridled to muted on Saturday with the news that Utah Jazz starting point guard Ricky Rubio could miss up to 10 days with a left hamstring injury.

Rubio has been declared out for Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinal series against Houston Rockets, which is set to commence on Sunday at Toyota Center.

Rubio enjoyed a spike in productivity in his first season with the Jazz, posting career highs in points (13.1) and effective field goal percentage (47.6). His triple-double (26 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) in Game 3 against the Thunder enabled Utah to wrest control of the series, a stranglehold it did not relinquish in claiming the series in six games. Rubio sustained the injury early in Game 6.

The loss of Rubio stacked on top of the quick turnaround makes for an arduous chore.

“I think playing Houston is a challenge in and of itself,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. “Our staff is prepared and we will be able to give all that to our team. They’re such a unique team that I don’t know how you … we have to compete is the main thing.

“Whatever the game planning and all those things, like I said, they’re so good. They’ve been the best team in the league all year. They beat us and we know how good they are. We’ll just do what we can to get ready and get out there and try not to think about being fatigued or anything like that. Get healthy, try to get our minds right Kyle Murphy Jersey , and compete and see where it goes.”

With Rubio sidelined, the Jazz opted to split facilitating duties between dynamic rookie guard Donovan Mitchell and savvy veteran wing Joe Ingles. The results were mixed, with Utah bogging down for spells, allowing the Thunder to close to within a single possession in the latter stages.

But Utah persevered throughout the season, first overcoming the loss of free agent Gordon Hayward to Boston and then trudging along as stalwart center Rudy Gobert missed 26 games.

“We’ve been a great team all year sticking together through the ups and downs,” Ingles said. “(Game 6) was just another example of that.”

The Rockets held a decisive advantage entering the series even before the Rubio news. Houston swept the four-game season series by an average of 17.5 points. The Rockets won the last meeting on Feb. 26 despite the absences of Clint Capela and Eric Gordon, who scored a season-high 33 points in the Rockets’ 120-99 victory over the Jazz on Dec. 18, the only game of the series that Gobert, a Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner, missed.

Rockets guard James Harden, the leading candidate to claim league MVP honors Sheldon Rankins Jersey , averaged 34.3 points (with an impressive .554/.432/.907 slash line), 6.3 rebounds, and 6.8 assists against Utah. In their first-round series against Minnesota, the Rockets adjusted to Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns dropping back to protect the paint from Harden rim runs, a strategy that enjoyed moderate success but could prove more effective with Gobert defending the rim.

“They’ve got scrappy defenders and they funnel everything to Gobert, a 7-foot-2 guy that’s top three in shot-blocking contesting and making shots tough,” Harden said.

“That series helped us a little bit in the sense that a big is back, Gobert is going to be back. Defensively Gobert is better (than Towns). It prepared us a little bit in that aspect but we’re ready for anything. We’ve seen a lot of different defenses all year. We just watch film and figure out ways to attack.”

Houston received a measure of good news in advance of the series opener, elevating reserve forward Luc Mbah a Moute to questionable with a right shoulder injury. Mbah a Moute missed the first-round series after dislocating his shoulder in the penultimate game of the season.

Carlos Dunlap walked into the Cincinnati Bengals locker room and noticed a group of videographers and reporters waiting by his locker in a far corner of the room.

”Y’all looking for me?” he said.

Indeed, Dunlap was the focus on the first day of mandatory minicamp after skipping most of the voluntary offseason workouts in Cincinnati. The ninth-year defensive end chose to work out on his own while his agent negotiated a new deal with the team, costing him $300 Manti Te'o Jersey ,000 in bonuses.

Rather than skip the minicamp as well, he decided to catch up on what he’s missed with a new defense being implemented.

Plus, he’s encouraged by the progress made on a deal that would keep him in Cincinnati well beyond 2018.

”There are no hard feelings between any of us,” Dunlap said Tuesday. ”This is the process. Both sides understand it.”

Dunlap is a key to the Bengals’ hopes of a turnaround this season. They slid to 18th in the league overall and 30th against the run last season while missing out on the playoffs for a second straight year. Coordinator Paul Guenther left to join Jon Gruden with the Raiders, and Teryl Austin was hired as his replacement.

Dunlap has been a game-changer in Cincinnati with his ability to rush the quarterback and bat down passes. He’s second on the team’s career sacks list with 64 , and he’s been the best lineman in the league at batting down passes over the past few seasons.

Coaches have been trying to get him to be more consistent not only from game-to-game, but within games as well. His number of plays could diminish this season as Cincinnati integrates some of its young pass rushers into the line rotation.

Carl Lawson had 8 sacks last season, the most by an NFL rookie and one sack shy of Dunlap’s team rookie record from 2010.

”They’re very adamant about having a big rotation, and I would too with all this talent on the D-line,” Dunlap said.

Dunlap and tackle Geno Atkins have anchored the line since 2010. Atkins leads the NFL in sacks by an interior lineman over the past few years. Dunlap had a career-high 13 sacks in 2015, but slipped to 8 the following season and 7 last year Eric Rowe Jersey , third on the team.

By working out on his own the past few months, he missed a chance to learn the system implemented by Austin. He said the biggest change is in terminology.

”They’re pretty much similar in scheme – minor tweaks here or there – but they’re things we already had in our defense,” Dunlap said. ”So it’s not like a full spring cleaning or anything.”

Coach Marvin Lewis said Dunlap won’t get much time on the field during the three-day minicamp because he’s missed so much practice time.

”It’s a chance for him to get a preview of what will happen during training camp,” Lewis said. ”He’ll get very limited repetitions (in minicamp) just because these guys have been working here for an amount of weeks and he hasn’t been here.”

WOODSIDE CHARGED: Rookie quarterback Logan Woodside – a seventh-round pick from Toledo – practiced Tuesday after arraignment in northern Kentucky. He was charged over the weekend with speeding and driving under the influence in Bellevue, Kentucky, according to information in his case file in Campbell County District Court. The Bengals said they’re aware of the matter and gathering information. Lewis declined further comment.

EIFERT MISSING: Tight end Tyler Eifert was in the locker room but didn’t participate in the afternoon practice. Lewis declined to say why the often-injured tight end wasn’t on the field. ”He was here all morning and then all of a sudden he wasn’t,” Lewis said. ”I’m sure he’s being dealt with in some kind of medical fashion. That’s the only reason a guy wouldn’t be here.”

Eifert was limited to two games last season because of chronic back problems. He signed a one-year deal after the season. Lewis said Eifert has been doing well so far in his latest comeback.

”When we start to play football, then we’ll have an idea where he is,” Lewis said.

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