--F Carlos Boozer had a largely quiet return, finishing with two points and five rebounds in 21 minutes in his first action since he was injured Nov. 19 and underwent left knee surgery Jan. 9. Boozer missed 44 games in all and expects to take two weeks or so to regain his conditioning and rhythm. He went 1-for-5, with his only basket coming on a goaltending violation, and missed two free throws. "I'm looking forward to getting that rust off me and getting back out there," Boozer said, "but my knee was great, which was my biggest concern with how my knee would respond to 5-on-5."
--Keep an eye on Mehmet Okur in Wednesday's game against Minnesota. Okur hit a go-ahead jumper with 1.7 seconds left in the Jazz's 99-96 victory over the Timberwolves in December as well as two late 3-pointers in their 112-107 victory last month. He had one of his quietest games of the season Monday, scoring six points against Atlanta. --It was hard to tell as they battled one injury after another to start the season, but the Jazz has long viewed its bench as one of its biggest strengths. The bench outscored the starters 58-50 in Monday's victory over Atlanta as Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap and Matt Harpring all scored in double figures. The Jazz's second team also broke open the game with a 17-8 run to start the second quarter with Deron Williams on the bench.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Hopefully, our first group will play. Otherwise we'll start those guys. That's a luxury I haven't had all season." -- Jazz coach Jerry Sloan on his team's bench, which scored 58 points with Carlos Boozer back Monday.
