It's beginning to look like the starting power forward for the Utah Jazz will put up about 20 points and 10-plus rebounds per game like clockwork, regardless of who is filling that roll.
Monday night it was Andrei Kirilenko's turn. Despite having little time to prepare for his starting assignment, Kirilenko scored 23 points with 12 rebounds during Utah's 120-113 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night at EnergySolutions Arena.
Kirilenko was filling in for the late-scratch Paul Millsap, who was out with a bruised right knee. Millsap, who recently had his streak of double-doubles broken at 19 games, is averaging 18 points and 11.5 rebounds as a starter in place of injured All-Star Carlos Boozer. Boozer, meanwhile, averaged 20.5 points and 11.7 boards before getting hurt.
But the Jazz were down to their third option at power forward, and Kirilenko, who had played more small forward during his NBA career, was up to the challenge on Monday.
And Kirilenko showed he could be a huge factor in the game even without success on outside jumpers. Despite being wide open for numerous looks through the first three-plus quarters, Kirilenko was only 3-for-15 from the field.
"I couldn't make a shot from the beginning, kind of like five or six in a row, even though that shot I was practicing with Jeff (Hornacek) a lot," said Kirilenko. "Sometimes it doesn't want to go in."
Yet Kirilenko came up huge offensively down the stretch in the fourth quarter to help the Jazz stave off a major rally by the Pacers. He scored 11 points in the final period, making his final three shots from the field. His put-back bucket with 2:26 to play to gave the Jazz a 111-106 lead and his rebound dunk with 56 ticks on the clock pretty much sealed the victory by giving the Jazz a 118-111 advantage.
"I was open at the elbow every time," said Kirilenko. "I could have taken every shot. But when you see you couldn't make it -- sometimes that happens -- you have to change. I was trying to drive the Basketball and get under the basket."
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan liked the overall play of Kirilenko, who had three assists, three steals and three blocked shots for the game to go with his double-double in points and boards.
"He's open a lot out there, and he got kind of casual taking the shots," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "But other than that, I thought he played extremely well. He got some rebounds and got some big plays to help us finish by cutting to the basket." E-mail: lojo@desnews.com
