Kirilenko raves over Fisher's contributions

Andrei Kirilenko is known for his all-over-the-court game, but he was wowed by a play made by 11-year veteran Derek Fisher in Tuesday's win that closed out Golden State and sent the Jazz to the NBA Western Conference Finals.

Kirilenko was chasing a loose ball, thinking he couldn't get to it, when he saw Fisher dive and come up with it. "I'm like, 'Yeah, that's how we are supposed to play. That's how we can cover each other's back. How we can really fight for every position,"' he said.

"(Fisher) is one of the solid guys in the NBA, one of the solid players, and having him on the team — even if he is not going to play, sitting on the bench — it's a big deal. Those guys like Fish are a great example," Kirilenko said.

Fisher, with his calm demeanor and wealth of playoff experience, has been a key for the Jazz, especially in the Golden State series when he directly helped win three of the last four games.

"He knows what to do in the crunch moment, which is sometimes we don't know," Kirilenko said. "We can, like, not give up — but we can kind of confuse what to do in certain situations, certain positions on the floor.

"And of course a guy like Fish, he is playing tremendous game as well, not only veteran sitting helping with advice, but he is playing and showing, like, example."

FISHER SNEEZING: Fisher has missed the team's last two media availability sessions following practices Thursday and Friday.

He was excused for undisclosed reasons Thursday, and Friday he suffered a bout with allergies, was given medication and sent home quickly so that he wouldn't risk driving drowsily, said team spokeswoman Cindy Edman.

Fisher participated in Thursday's and Friday's workouts with the team, although he did less on Friday. "He practiced a little bit out here," said coach Jerry Sloan. "He rode the bicycle, I think is what it was.

"He's not feeling very well. I don't want to get into that, but it sounds like it's (not) something major.

"He's standing up. He's standing up riding the bicycle — a guy is in great shape if he can do that. If we played, he'd probably play," Sloan added.