--The Jazz played their eighth game without Deron Williams (ankle), their eighth game without Matt Harpring (ankle), their second straight game without Andrei Kirilenko and their fourth straight game without Mehmet Okur, who is in Turkey with his critically ill father.
"That's part of the business," coach Jerry Sloan said. "You can sit around and feel sorry for yourself or go play. I think it's a great opportunity for guys who haven't played to play and hopefully be able to help your team later on. But you can't worry about these things. "When you start off the season, you know (injuries) are always a possibility. ... So what do you do about it? Nothing. You go out and play with who you have. That's the way life is."
--Kosta Koufos, the Jazz's 19-year-old rookie center, made his fourth start against Cleveland, located about an hour from his hometown of Canton, Ohio. He finished with five points, five rebounds and two blocks in 27 minutes.
"He's worked extremely hard," coach Jerry Sloan said. "He's recognized things better than I thought he would, at this stage, for being so young. ... It's unfortunate we don't have all our players right now, but he was ready to step up when he got the chance. He showed he wanted to play."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "If you're a young guy, you have to compete against the guy. If you say, 'I'm not going to touch him,' you'll be saying that 20 years from now. You might as well just come and get his autograph." -- Coach Jerry Sloan, on the Jazz's lack of physical play against LeBron James.
