Utah Jazz notes: Kirilenko leaves with ankle injury

On Friday — even with point guard Deron Williams having returned to the lineup from his sprained left ankle two nights earlier, and backup shooting guard Kyle Korver ready to return from a re-sprained right wrist that evening — Jerry Sloan warned that the Jazz shouldn't feel too good about inching back toward a mostly healthy roster.

"There's no guarantee," Sloan said, "(that) somebody else doesn't get banged up."

On Saturday, the Jazz coach proved oh-so-right.

Sixth man Andrei Kirilenko exited before halftime of a 105-88 loss to New Jersey because of pain and inflammation in his right ankle, and he never did return.

The forward from Russia had X-rays taken at the EnergySolutions Arena on Saturday night, and results didn't reveal any sprains or fractures.

They did, however, show what the Jazz are calling a "point of irritation."

Kirilenko will be re-evaluated today, and is being listed as "day-to-day."

Kirilenko thinks his ankle might have actually been bothered in Friday night's game, though he can't pinpoint when exactly he might have been injured.

The ankle was somewhat uncomfortable before Saturday's game — he compared the pain he had before the game to the uncomfortable feeling of having a cramp — but he felt good enough to play after warm-ups.

"When I came to the game, I stretched a little bit and it feels pretty good," he said. "But after 10 minutes it was weakened. I couldn't stand, couldn't make the first step or play defense. It was just bothering me."

And, he added, "I feel like it's getting worse and worse."

Kirilenko isn't sure what his course of action is for now.

"I don't really exactly know what it is," he said. "I just feel it was so weak. I just couldn't really walk right now. (Today) we'll see how it feels."

Kirilenko, who dislocated and sprained a fingertip a couple of weeks ago, grimaced when asked about the abundance of injuries the Jazz have suffered this season.

"We've really lost a lot of people," he said. "I'll try to recover as much as possible, but there's nothing I can do."

This latest loss, though, seems to have hit particularly hard.

"Andrei's a big part of our defense," small forward C.J. Miles said. "(His) energy, and his versatility, help us out a lot. But it's still no excuse."

Yet it sure didn't help, either.

"Obviously," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, "when Andrei went out of the game and wasn't able to come back and play ... you see 'em drop their heads down."