Ruffin gets call — and responds

Just five days after Michael Ruffin returned from a lengthy recline on the injured list, the Utah Jazz coaches were comfortable enough with his progress to put him on the court for the final seven minutes of a game that was far from over.

Golden State had cut Utah's margin to five with 7:05 left Tuesday night, and Ruffin entered a few seconds later. The Jazz lead immediately bounced to double figures thanks to two Ruffin rebounds and two Ruffin layups off Andrei Kirilenko feeds — plays that looked like Ruffin had been in the lineup for a month.

Instead, Ruffin missed 35 games with an abdominal strain that still twinges occasionally but doesn't worry him too much. Since he returned Friday in Denver, Ruffin said his wind has gotten better due to extra cardio exercises and, "I feel like I'm ready to play whenever coach needs me."

Tuesday's win was a milestone for Ruffin because coaches put him back into the game after he'd been on the bench for a while. They had been starting him in the first and third quarters when he's still loose from pre-game and intermission warm-ups, then not calling on him again, worried about him playing when cold.

But with Golden State scoring eight quick points, coach Jerry Sloan called for Ruffin's active post defense and rebounding, and he responded.

"This is the kind of game that Greg (Ostertag, Jazz center) has a hard time with because of the small lineup, so that's why Mike was so important to us," said assistant coach Phil Johnson.

"It's a great addition to our team because he gives us a defender, a very smart player, a great hustle player, and tonight down the stretch he really helped us," Johnson said. "It's nice to have him with us. With all the injuries we have, we need him."

"I think his progress has been terrific," added Sloan. "He's always been a hard worker. Just the hustle things he does enlivens your team.

Sloan said Ruffin's play during the exhibition season had the coaches planning to use him as a starting forward until he was injured in mid-October. He'd shown Sloan that, "He can help us defensively, and he's not afraid, and he steps up and he does a lot of hustle things. We thought that would be a good way to start our team."

In a season-high of 20 minutes against Golden State, guarding mainly Clifford Robinson and Brian Cardinal, Ruffin notched six points with his first three field goals of the season and eight rebounds.

"I'm just trying to help the team and do whatever I can," said the Tulsa University product. As long as we keep winning and playing hard, then it's a lot of fun."