Josh Howard to miss remainder of the season due to knee surgery

The Jazz will be without forward Josh Howard for the rest of this season as he's set to undergo surgery on his left knee.

Howard, 31, has bounced back this season in Utah after battling a number of knee issues in his last two stops in Dallas and Washington. Howard has played in 41 of Utah's 45 games and started 18. With the Jazz still on the back end of the Western playoff picture (just a half game out as of Tuesday), losing Howard is a pretty substantial blow.

He's provided Utah a steady defender, a quality rebounder and a veteran leader. He's averaging just 8.7 points in 23.4 minutes per game, but he's been pretty consistent for the Jazz in a lot of areas.

Howard has been starting lately, so without him Utah will likely turn to either Gordon Hayward or rookie Alec Burks to fill that small forward role for the rest of the season.