"You force him to step back, shoot the ball," Kirilenko said. "Make him feel — not nervous but — out of rhythm."

Early on, that task may fall to Jazz starting shoot guard Derek Fisher.

Why?

With Fisher yielding a good seven inches to the 6-8 McGrady, one might wonder.

"Actually," Sloan said, "we felt like that's a better matchup for us to try to deal with. Fisher gets over screens a little better (than Kirilenko)."

The longtime Los Angeles Laker guard now in Utah has supreme respect for McGrady, who twice led the NBA in scoring when he played with Orlando.

Though that's no longer the case — Yao, in fact, finished with the regular season with a slightly better scoring average than McGrady at 25.0 vs. 24.6 — the Jazz understand he is a 50-point threat every time he takes the floor.

"He is Tracy McGrady. He will still have not just flashes of brilliance but brilliant games," Fisher said. "We just have to make him work. We just have to see if we can make his life more difficult."

Fisher won't be alone in trying.

"We're not gonna stop the guy," Sloan said. "He's got the ability to be able to score points form everywhere, so there will be different guys that have to guard him.

"I believe our guys will try hard, but he's probably still gonna have an advantage because of his talent level playing against us. I'm sure they (the Rockets) know that."

By game's end it may be Kirilenko primarily assigned to McGrady, though the Jazz's one-time All-Star from Russia wants a piece of the action all along.

"I think I will probably start more off him ... so I can give more help," Kirilenko said.

Yet therein rests another Jazz dilemma.

"If we try to give too much help (on McGrady)," Sloan said, "then they've got the big guy (Yao) sitting inside. If you learn too far, then they get a hustle play on you. They don't make many mistakes."

Yet Kirilenko, for one, is willing to take his chances.

"I always think I'm a better defending when I'm helping, so I can come from the weak side when guys don't see me," he said. "I can double-team, I can be more active.

"When I play 1-on-1 personally," Kirilenko added, "it's different, because you need to think only about your guy — especially if he's a good player. ... But I'm ready. If any time Coach wants me to be on McGrady — or, like Yao — I'll be ready."

As will the Rockets' rather dynamic duo.

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com