Jazz guard Conley leaves NBA bubble for son's birth

MIAMI – Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley will miss at least two NBA playoff games after leaving the league's quarantine bubble Sunday (Monday, Manila time) for the birth of a son, the team announced.

Conley left the Disney World campus in Orlando, Florida, for Columbus, Ohio, on the eve of Utah's opening playoff game against the Denver Nuggets.

Upon returning to the Orlando bubble, NBA players must quarantine a minimum of four days, based upon testing standards.

Utah and Denver meet in the first NBA playoff game Monday afternoon then play again Wednesday, Friday and next Sunday in a Western Conference first round best-of-seven matchup.

Conley has averaged 18.0 points, second on the Jazz, and 5.0 assists a game in six appearances since the NBA resumed the regular-season July 30 after shutting down March 11 when Utah's Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19.

Utah went 3-5 in Orlando to finish the season 44-28 and sixth in the West to book a first-round matchup against the Nuggets, who were also 3-5 in the bubble for a 46-27 mark and third in the West.