Harpring will return to lineup tonight

Jazz backup small forward Matt Harpring plans to play tonight against Sacramento.

The 10-season NBA veteran missed his first game of the season Saturday, sitting out Utah's win over Memphis due to swelling in his surgically repaired right knee.

The Saturday game also was the back end of a back-to-back set — Harpring played 17 minutes Friday at Seattle — and Harpring said scheduling was a factor in the decision as well.

"The trainer, (Gary Briggs), and Dr. (Lyle) Mason (the Jazz's orthopedic specialist), we sat down ... and said, 'Let's take this next one off,' because we've got a lot of games coming up," Harpring said.

After facing the Kings tonight, the 5-2 Jazz leave Tuesday for a three-games-in-four-nights trip that opens Wednesday in Toronto and ends Saturday in Indiana.

With Harpring out against the Grizzlies on Saturday, C.J. Miles backed up starter Andrei Kirilenko and rookie Morris Almond played for just the second time in seven games this season.

Harpring, who remains limited by doctor's orders to about 16-to-17 minutes per game, is averaging 7.7 points through six games so far this season.

His knee, twice previously repaired via microfracture surgery, was surgically cleared of scar tissue this past offseason.

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com