The loss marked the halfway point of the Jazz season. At 14-27, it is the first time in the last 10 years the Jazz have been under .500 for the first half. The only other time in the last 10 years that they had fewer than 20 wins was in the strike-shortened 1998-99 year when they were 19-6 at the midway point. The Jazz's last full losing season was 1981-82.

It also marked the return of Kirilenko, who missed 26 games with a knee injury. In 12 minutes, he had two points, two rebounds and two blocked shots.

Okur led the Jazz with 22 points, one less than Pau Gasol totaled for Memphis. Boozer added 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

"He looked pretty good in the first time out there," Sloan said of Kirilenko, "but we can't just be glad to have Andrei back and think we don't have to work anymore."

Kirilenko was happy to be back but didn't feel like himself and admitted some nervousness in his return.

"Right now, I can't feel my shot at all. I felt like every shot I am going to take would be air ball," said Kirilenko. "That's how I felt."

It bothered him to play knowing he would be limited to five or six minutes per half as a precaution. "You're thinking about it. You're on the floor, and you're looking — like I got three more minutes or one more minute. It's kind of sad. It's better to play when you don't know about it."

He said he will certainly play tonight in Seattle.

"The knee feels good, but I feel a little bit of tiredness, and sometime heavy and can't jump. Sometimes my mind is ready to get the rebound, but my body didn't."

Memphis regrouped after the sudden death of its play-by-play announcer, 53-year-old Don Poier, in his Denver hotel room Friday, and then having travel complications that left them in Denver overnight. "They came out tonight in that third quarter — we just played good basketball," said coach Mike Fratello.

"It's easy to pack it in when you're faced with adverse travel situations," said a bemused Battier, who made his first four 3-point shots and totaled 16 points and six rebounds. "We made them play catch-up and executed in the fourth quarter and kept them at bay."

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E-mail: lham@desnews.com