Block party: Kirilenko swats shots as Jazz run past L.A.

Their starting point guard sat injured behind the bench, dressed in a nifty sport coat. Their backup point guard was nowhere to be seen, recovering instead from arthroscopic knee surgery.

They wish they didn't have to wait, but they must.

Their 2004-05 NBA regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night at the sold-out Delta Center started 19 minutes later than it was supposed to, delayed in large part because a basket was bent out of shape.

They didn't want to wait, but they had no choice.

Once they got going, though, the Jazz played like a team that just couldn't wait, rolling past the Los Angeles Lakers 104-78.

The win marked not only the Jazz debut of Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur and rookies Kirk Snyder and Kris Humphries, but also a return to Utah for former John Stockton backup Howard Eisley, who was signed earlier Wednesday for much-needed relief at the point.

Even with usual starter Carlos Arroyo nursing a sprained ankle and usual backup point Raul Lopez resting his surgically repaired knee, though, it wasn't Eisley who started.

Rather, it was former free agent Keith McLeod, who, as expected, took the floor for Jazz coach Jerry Sloan along with Gordan Giricek at shooting guard, Andrei Kirilenko at small forward, Boozer at power forward and Jarron Collins at center.

Beyond the fireworks that filled the Delta Center with a pre-game puff of smoke, it was All-Star Kirilenko - five days removed from a six-year, $86 million contract extension - who provided the biggest early spark.

On the very first possession for the Lakers, who opened their season with a Staples Center win over Denver on Tuesday, Kirilenko rejected fellow All-Star Kobe Bryant's running jumper. On the other end, he slammed home the rebound of Giricek's missed 20-footer. Thirty-nine seconds later, he blocked Lamar Odom's layup. And less than a minute after that, he swatted away a shot from Chris Mihm, who, for the record, is no Shaquille O'Neal.

Before the first half was done, Kirilenko would merely block five shots in all, rebound four and score nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field.

But he wasn't alone in helping the Jazz to a 45-28 lead at the break, an advantage that at one point late in the second quarter stood at 20.