As frank as he was about how he fared in a shooting drill before practice with Andrei Kirilenko -- quot;Andrei killed me. I'm telling youquot; -- Mehmet Okur was encouraged he would be able to return from his strained right hamstring tonight against the Lakers.
Okur was on the court early Friday to shoot with Kirilenko and part-time assistant coach Jeff Hornacek and took part in all of practice, including full-court drills. It was the first time Okur was able to practice since he suffered the injury April 13. quot;So far, so good,quot; Okur said before practice. quot;It feels good. Less pain. I was able to do more moving and do more stuff. I'm going to probably do more stuff with the team and see how I feel.quot;
Asked about the possibility of playing in Game 4, Okur said, quot;Yup, it's a possibility. It's all up to practice, how I feel and how my hamstring's going to react. I tell you what, I'm excited, so hopefully I'm going to feel good.quot;
There is the danger that Okur could reinjure the hamstring should he return prematurely, but he didn't dwell on the prospect Friday. quot;That's the other story,quot; Okur said, quot;but I'm saying I feel good right now.quot;
Okur's return could change the course of the series for the Jazz, who had been left to start Jarron Collins in his absence and play an undersized frontcourt of Carlos Boozer and Paul Millsap against 7-footers Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum .
Okur was the Jazz's second-leading scorer, averaging 17.0 points, and ranked sixth in the NBA in three-point shooting at 44.6 percent. Gasol is expected to match up against Okur, while Bynum would be left to handle Boozer inside.
quot;You have to respect obviously his jump shot, and he's been really shooting well the ball,quot; Gasol said. quot;We'll see in what kind of game rhythm he is. I wouldn't assume that he's in the best shape as he would be if he would have played all these games.quot;
Okur underscored that point as he talked to reporters before practice while working out on an elliptical machine.
Having watched his team struggle with double-digit leads in each of the first three games of this series, Lakers coach Phil Jackson actually welcomed Okur's return.
quot;I think it'd be good for us,quot; Jackson said. quot;I think that's what we need. We need to have a lineup out there that challenges us and that makes us play the way we should play.quot;
Bynum has averaged 7 points, 3 rebounds and 4 fouls in this series and played only 7:08 in Game 3 on account of foul trouble. Jackson was asked if he was concerned about Bynum being even more foul-prone given the matchups with Okur's return.
quot;Both Millsap and Boozer are tough matchups for him,quot; Jackson said. quot;That's a situation where speed and size kind of balance each other off.quot;
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Fire drill
The 228th coaching change of Jerry Sloan 's tenure with the Jazz was more personal than most, with longtime Sloan assistant Kenny Natt fired Thursday as Sacramento's interim coach. Natt went 11-47 after taking over for Reggie Theus .
quot;You have to take that chance if you haven't coached before,quot; Sloan said. quot;Sometimes it works out, I guess, sometimes it doesn't. That's just what this business is about. I've been fortunate to be able to stay in one spot for so long.quot;
rsiler@sltrib.com
