Utah's Sloan not thinking about playoff preview

HOUSTON — Jerry Sloan prefers not to look down the road at a likely opening-round NBA postseason matchup between his Jazz and the Houston Rockets.

"I can't worry about them now. The next game is important," Sloan, whose Jazz are idle until visiting Portland on Wednesday, said Sunday. "I'm concerned about what we do every single day rather than worrying about the playoffs.

"I'll wait until late April, or whenever we play them again."

Jazz players, however, had little else on their minds following an 86-83 victory over the Rockets that gave them a leg up for homecourt advantage in a potential series.

"It's gonna be fun. They're a great team," point guard Deron Williams said. "Yao Ming is a great player, Tracy McGrady is a great player. Their whole team is just solid."

LIKE COACH, LIKE POINT: As Williams was at the tail end of this postgame quote — "We were able to battle back, stay with it," he said — fellow backcourt starter Derek Fisher called him out.

"Junior," Fisher shouted from his next-door locker.

Williams caught the reference right away, and so did others accustomed to hearing some of Sloan's favorite sayings.

"Coach is rubbing off on me, man," Williams said. "Man, he's rubbing off on us."

It's true.

Just a few moments earlier, center Mehmet Okur was parroting Sloan with another of the coach's often-used expressions.

"It's not gonna be easy for us," Okur said of the Jazz's remaining schedule. "We'll see who we are."

HARPRING BACK: Backup small forward Matt Harpring, whose layup and free throw with one minute and 35 seconds remaining Sunday put the Jazz ahead to stay, was back after missing two games with dehydration and a stomach virus.

His return was welcomed with open arms, too.

"We wish we would have had Matt against San Antonio," Williams said, referencing Friday's loss to the Spurs. "Matt's been great for us all year."

Harpring, who also missed two games in December with a stomach virus, played 22 minutes but said he was not in tip-top shape.

"I've just got to get back in the rhythm of things and get my wind," he said.