Jazz GM miffed over cheap shots on Rubio: 'We expect our players to be protected'

Utah Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey has not taken kindly to the beating his team's point guard, Ricky Rubio, has been taking of late.

Rubio has been on the wrong end of a few dirty plays recently, including a body check into the bench from Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Jeff Teague earlier this month, and a pair of cheap shots from Phoenix Suns forwards Jared Dudley and Marquese Chriss during a Jazz rout Thursday night.

"There's no place for that in our game," Lindsey said on The Zone Sports Network on Friday. "Ricky and the Jazz compete hard, I think we compete honorably, so whatever rationale around it, frankly, holds no water to us. And we expect our players to be protected."

Teague, Chriss, and Dudley were all ejected for their cheap shots, but Rubio's teammates Joe Ingles and Donovan Mitchell also picked up technical fouls for coming to his defense in the Phoenix game. Lindsey didn't dispute the technicals, but suggested the league needs to institute better preventative measures.

"We think the officials made the appropriate determination, and certainly our guys, Joe Ingles and Donovan, probably deserved the technicals for running in there," Lindsey said. "But they've seen this one too many times. We didn't get to enjoy a 28-point victory; we had to deal with the fallout of all this. So, I'm not pleased, and we'll make sure to voice those concerns appropriately to the league."

Lindsey also mentioned that Rubio has a knee bruise as a result of the Suns' recklessness, and may have to miss time.

"Talking to Ricky last night and this morning, he's upset. He's got a contusion on his knee now, and we're in a playoff chase where every minute matters, much less every quarter and every half and every game," Lindsey said.

"He competes really hard, really physical, and in a clean way. You expect that to be respected by his peers, you expect that to be protected by the league, and we'll stand on that record and stand on the high ground. Hopefully it won't cause him to miss any time, but frankly, as of today, we don't know if that's a fact."