Kirilenko still hurting

Jazz basketball boss Kevin O'Connor said Monday that both forward Andrei Kirilenko and shooting guard Gordan Giricek may miss at least the next three games, but he doesn't know how many more beyond that.

Coach Jerry Sloan said Monday he wasn't positive who'll start in Kirilenko's small forward spot when the 6-1 Jazz host the 5-1 Los Angeles Clippers tonight.

"We're very disappointed Andrei's not going to be able to be with us," Sloan said Monday, "but life goes on."

It does but with many more questions than when the Jazz jumped to one of the NBA's best starts.

Uncertainty, it seems, now hovers over a team that not long ago was shaping up as a sure thing.

Kirilenko sprained his right ankle in Saturday's 113-111 win at Milwaukee, and did not practice Monday. X-rays taken in Milwaukee and a follow-up exam Monday in Utah showed "no issues" beyond the sprain, according to O'Connor.

But the NBA's No. 2 shot-blocker from a season ago definitely won't play tonight, and the Jazz will "re-evaluate after that," team spokesman Jonathan Rinehart said.

"I think it's going to be longer than (one game)," O'Connor said. "I think he can miss the next three games, but I don't want to say for sure. That's only a guess."

After tonight, the Jazz play Friday in Seattle and Saturday against Phoenix at home. Four more games await next week, beginning Monday vs. Toronto.

O'Connor said the sprain is "similar" to the one Kirilenko sustained last November, when he missed seven straight games.

"But I think this year he'll work on it harder and know how to ease back into things," O'Connor said. "He'll know when he can push off it, and when he can't, because he's been through it before."

Giricek left the Jazz's three-game Eastern road trip last week, returning to Utah from Boston after being bothered by tendinitis in his right Achilles.

"That's a tougher one (than Kirilenko's injury)," O'Connor said. "I'm guessing he's going to miss these three (games) for sure, and I don't know where it goes from there."

In 2005-06, Giricek missed 42 games with tendinitis in his left Achilles — including the season's final 37.

"I don't think it's quite as bad (as then)," O'Connor said. "I think we got it earlier. ... (We'll) wait and see."

The absences mean Sloan must juggle not only his opening lineup but also his regular rotation.