Back from long injury absence, Raul Neto serving as a steadying positive for Utah Jazz

SALT LAKE CITY — On the surface, Raul Neto's contributions to the Utah Jazz over the last five games have been rather modest.

Entering Saturday night's game against the Dallas Mavericks, the Brazilian had averaged just 4.8 points and 3.5 assists in less than 12 minutes per contest since returning on Feb. 6 from an injury that kept him sidelined for almost a month.

But there's another perhaps lesser-lauded stat the fourth-year pro has put up a gaudy number in. Since his return, Neto has an outstanding plus-minus, which measures how well a team does when a given player is on the floor.

Over the last five games, Neto is a plus-49, which means the Jazz have outscored their opponents by that many points when he has been in the game.

To be sure, plus-minus isn't some end-all, be-all statistic, as who else you share the court with both on your own team as well as the opposition factors into it, but Neto's high number is an indicator that he's doing something right.

Saturday's game was Neto's worst of the five from a plus-minus perspective, but he still finished plus-two in eight minutes even though he only had three assists and a block with zero points.

On Friday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, however, Neto showed the impact a player can have even if he doesn't score a ton. He finished with just two points in Utah's 148-147 double-overtime loss, but had four assists, four rebounds and a steal in just 12 minutes and finished plus-15.

Before that, Neto was plus-3 in a seven-point loss to the Golden State Warriors, plus-9 in a 20-point win over the San Antonio Spurs and plus-20 in a 32-point victory versus the Phoenix Suns.

His contributions are coming during a season in which he's been held back by a few injuries for the second consecutive campaign. Saturday marked just the 23rd game he's played after he appeared in just 41 regular-season contests during the 2017-2018 season.

Perhaps ironically, Neto is stepping up as a steadying presence as the Jazz are without his fellow point guard, Dante Exum. While players such as Donovan Mitchell and Joe Ingles can spell starting floor general Ricky Rubio in stretches, the Brazilian is helping compensate while Exum, who will be out for at least the next 12 days, continues to rehab a sprained left ankle and bone bruise.

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