Kirilenko gives Jazz lift in return from injury

If Andrei Kirilenko was hurting Friday night, teammates didn't know.

"His presence is phenomenal," Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer said after Kirilenko returned from a five-game absence to a sprained right ankle to block five shots and dish four assists in Utah's 114-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. "I mean, just the way he plays — he makes defenders have to kelp on him, he drops off passes, he blocks shots. Just his presence makes (opponents) more aware of him, and it opens up stuff for everybody.

"It's great to see him back," Boozer added after scoring a game-high 31 points. "He looked like he was pretty good, moving pretty well. If it did bother him, I couldn't tell."

The funny thing about it, though, is that Kirilenko was rather sore.

"Everything hurts," he said afterward, one wrist bandaged with tape and ice and a knee still bleeding a bit from where its skin was cut.

As for the ankle, Kirilenko said it was "ninety-five percent. Not 100 percent. But getting there. You can't feel 100 percent first game."

Slowed as he may have been, though, even the opposition could not help but gush over Kirilenko's play.

"He's an excellent help defender," Lakers star Kobe Bryant said. "Every time somebody drives to the hoop, you have to watch where he is."

RIGHT BACK TO YOU: Kirilenko had kind words in turn for Bryant, who scored a team-high 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field in the Laker loss.

"He's a great player," Kirilenko said of Bryant, who underwent offseason knee surgery. "He's great because always he's dangerous with the ball. I think he's still one of the best players in the NBA. Of course his knee, I think, a little bit slowed him down. Same as my ankle."

BAD BOYS: Three technical fouls were issued in Friday's game — one to Lakers assistant coach Kurt Rambis, one to Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan and another to usually mild-mannered Jazz starting center Mehmet Okur.

Okur was so furious he was called for fouling Lakers center Kwame Brown that he hurled the ball at the basket's support.

The Jazz, though, managed to overcome their anger in a 32-20 fourth quarter.

"We just kept playing, to our credit, and didn't let the refs interfere with the game," Jazz forward Matt Harpring said. "I mean, there were a lot of calls that could have gone either way."