Jan. 3--LOS ANGELES -- As they prepared to face the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday for the first time since last season's Western Conference semifinals, the Jazz did so with more of an eye on their playoff future than playoff past.
After falling to the Lakers in six games in the conference semifinals, the Jazz ended December out of playoff position entirely, with a 19-14 record good only for ninth in the conference standings and third in the Northwest Division. "Every game is important to us now," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "We're not even in the playoffs. That's the toughest part of it. We've worked and tried to do the best we can. If we [can't] get guys back, we've still got to try to win games some way."
Deron Williams couldn't even keep his team names straight in talking about the Jazz's plight: "We just need wins. It don't matter who it is right now, if it's the Lakers or if it's the Oklahoma City Bobcats -- the Oklahoma City Thunder. It don't matter."
With Williams and Carlos Boozer suffering significant early-season injuries, the Jazz came into Friday trailing the conference-leading Lakers by 7 1/2 games.
Although the Jazz were in an even worse position last season, bottoming out at 16-16 in December, Sloan wasn't about to bank on another 38-12 finish. Not with Boozer set to undergo knee surgery next week and likely out another month at least.
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Jazz are only 2 1/2 games out of the conference's second-best record, but Sloan talked Friday about fighting to stay in playoff position until Boozer's return. "Hopefully he gets back and we kind of put some more of it together," Sloan said.
Brace yourself
Paul Millsap returned to the starting lineup after missing three games with a sprained posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Even Sloan, however, described the oversized brace on Millsap's knee as "pretty cumbersome."
Millsap pronounced his knee pain-free and said his biggest challenge was adjusting to the brace. He didn't get any breaks in his first game back, either, matching up against the Lakers' Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol .
In the clear
Jarron Collins originally was scheduled to have his injured right elbow re-evaluated Friday, but Collins was cleared early after nearly six weeks of rest.
Collins took part in his first practice with contact Thursday and was in uniform Friday. Although he has strength back in the elbow and a full range of motion, Collins couldn't say if the decision to opt for rest rather than surgery had been the right one.
"Time will tell," said Collins, who was injured this summer when he flipped a golf cart. He had played in only two games all season, the latest coming Nov. 17, before Friday.
rsiler@sltrib.com
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