Kirilenko presents: An inconvenient tooth

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Asked if he lost just part of his tooth or all of it, Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko downplayed the matter.

"Chipped it," Kirilenko said, acting as if the dental damage — which occurred when the elbow of Charlotte's Matt Carroll caught the Russian in the mouth while Carroll took a 3-point shot Friday — was no big deal.

And now, thanks to the kind writers who cover the Bobcats, the rest of the story ...

"It was hanging," Carroll said of Kirilenko's tooth, "and he just grabbed it and threw it."

Root and all, apparently.

"What flashed through my mind was Rocky and the Russian," the grossed-out Carroll added. "I'm thinking, 'That's a tough Russian.' My goodness. ... I thought he was gonna say, 'I must break you' next play down the court."

Though a little loopy after a 101-89 loss to the Bobcats, Kirilenko insisted the incident was no big deal — and exonerated Carroll, who hit a free throw after Kirilenko was called for a foul on the fourth-quarter play.

"Not his fault," Kirilenko said. "My fault."

OKUR HURT TOO: Mehmet Okur — who appeared in his 207th straight game Friday — said he wouldn't know until today if he'll be able to play tonight at Memphis.

Okur had ribs X-rayed after falling hard to the floor in Friday's second half, but they showed no breaks. He returned to finish the game.

"The doctor," Okur said, "said just bruised muscle. ... Nothing about the ribs, which is good."

Okur also picked up a matching technical for standing up to Jake Voskuhl after the Bobcats big man fouled him hard. "I just overreact," Okur said.

ARAUJO PLAYS: Ex-BYU big man Rafael Araujo logged two first-half minutes Friday, missing two shots and losing a rebound out-of-bounds in his first action in more than a month.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, however, didn't fault Araujo's effort.

"He's in a situation where he's had to start over," Sloan said of Araujo, an offseason acquisition who has been either inactive or on the end of the bench while trying to learn the Jazz system. "But he's worked every day. I wish I could get him in the ballgames more, but we've been playing in a situation where it's tough to play him.

"So far he hasn't given up on his work habits, and (he's) done everything we've asked ... before games," Sloan said. "I feel bad because I can't get him in the ballgame a little bit, but that happens sometimes. ... He's just got to understand what's going on in the game better."