Boozer: 'I'll be back'

Even after his third major injury setback in as many seasons, Carlos Boozer seeks out the bright side.

"I'll be out for about four or five weeks," Boozer said after the Jazz revealed Tuesday that their leading scorer and rebounder has a small hairline fracture on the fibula bone head leading into his left knee.

"The good news is it's not as bad as it could have been, so I'm excited about that. Depending on how it heals I could be back sooner."

In fact, Boozer — who also pointed out that the Jazz's schedule is rather light over the next several weeks, with just two more games in the next nine days, only five before the NBA all-star break and 10 in all of February — did not rule out playing in the Feb. 18 all-star game should he be named a Western Conference reserve when selections are announced tonight.

"I'm not gonna say, 'No.' I'm not gonna say, 'Yeah,"' he said, even though that's only a three-week window. "I'm just gonna say, 'Possibly.'

"It's not as painful as it may sound," Boozer added. "It's sore and throbs a little bit here and there, but not too bad."

Jazz basketball operations senior vice president Kevin O'Connor appreciated the optimism, even if it may seem somewhat unrealistic.

"You'd rather have a player say, 'I'd rather play sooner than later,"' he said. "It just depends on when he can tolerate pain, (and) if there's no permanent damage if he plays on it sooner than later with pain."

In any event, the Jazz — who originally thought Boozer's knee was merely bruised, based on initial X-rays taken Saturday in Oklahoma City after he was hurt bumping into Hornets center Tyson Chandler — are planning on a lengthy spell without their starting power forward.

"Now," O'Connor said, "you get in a situation where you go, 'Holy good grief, now what do you do?' a little bit as far as the coaching end of it goes.

"It's obviously a situation we're upset about," he added. "But injuries happen.... We'll just deal with it. Some of the other guys have got to step up a little bit more."

With Boozer missing his second straight game when the Jazz faced San Antonio on Wednesday, Jarron Collins made a second straight start at center, usual starting center Mehmet Okur opened at power forward again, rookie backup Paul Millsap played extra minutes, and even seldom-used former BYU center Rafael Araujo contributed.