C.J. Miles News

"Talk to a number of guys around the league," Deron Williams said, "and they hate playing us for the simple fact they have to go up against Matt Harpring ." Opponents can rest easier now, of course.

Finding minutes for swingman C.J. Miles on Saturday night was easy, because backup small forward Andrei Kirilenko missed his second game in three due to a strained lower back.

Photo Gallery>> Standings West East   W L Pct GB Southwest Division DAL 14 6 .700 _ HOU 11 8 .579 2 SA 9 7 .563 3 NO 8 11 .421 5 MEM 8 12 .400 6 Northwest Division DEN 14 5 .737 _ POR 12 8 .600 2 UTA 11 8 .579 3 OC 10 9 .526 4 MIN 3 17 .150 11 Pacific Division LAL 15 3 .833 _ PHO 14 5 .737 1 SAC 9 8 .529 5 LAC 8 11 .421 7 GS 6 12 .333 9 ...

Backup small forward Andrei Kirilenko didn't play for the Jazz in Saturday night's loss to Minnesota here due to continuing muscle tightness in his strained lower back.

Ryan Gomes scored 23 points and Kevin Love went for 18 and 10 rebounds in his second game of the season, as Minnesota rallied for a rare 108-101 win over the Utah Jazz.

Carlos Boozer scored a season-high 35 points and had 13 rebounds to lead the Utah Jazz to their fourth straight victory, 96-87 over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.

Patients at Primary Children's Medical Center had some special visitors Wednesday.

After beating Memphis on Monday for their third consecutive victory and sixth in seven games, the Jazz are off until ending a six-game homestand Friday against Indiana.

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"We're getting closer to making a decision obviously as we get deeper into the season," O'Connor said.

Just wondering ... Fesenko's free-throw woes continue. The center missed 5 of 8 freebies Saturday and is shooting better from the field than the foul line .

Even if their season is only 15 games old, the sight couldn't be more foreign to the Jazz , who have been waking up recently to find themselves fourth in the Northwest Division standings behind Denver, Portland and Oklahoma City.

So much for returning soon, so much for perhaps returning as early as Saturday night.

Before they crossed paths in a Verizon Center hallway last November, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan had gone more than 40 years since last chatting with Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin , whose Baltimore Bullets drafted Sloan out of Evansville in 1965.

NBA commissioner David Stern once told ESPN.com's Bill Simmons his three favorite franchise owners were Detroit's Bill Davidson, Washington's Abe Pollin and Utah's Larry H. Miller.

The Jazz have five games still to go in a six-game homestand that continues with Tuesday night's visit from Oklahoma City, and they're three games into a favorable stretch with 11-of-14 being played at EnergySolutions Arena.

Jazz center Mehmet Okur pedaled a stationary bike prior to practice and made it through the session without any problems Monday, marking his return from a stomach virus that caused him to miss three straight games.

Back from a week-plus-long physical rehab stint in California, Jazz reserve shooting guard Kyle Korver said this morning that he hopes to return to the team in about two weeks - at the most.

The Jazz returned to work Monday, practicing for the first time since going 2-2 on a weeklong journey through the Eastern Conference.

With no Deron Williams and still without CJ Miles and Kyle Korver, I have to admit that I didn't expect the Jazz to come up with one of their most exciting games of the year.