FLASHY FESENKO: After he pulled down seven rebounds and scored six points in his NBA debut Friday, the Jazz were feeling awfully good about their decision to send rookie Kyrylo Fesenko to their Utah Flash D-League affiliate for some seasoning.

"His energy level out on the floor was better than anytime we've seen him," Sloan said of Fesenko, who played four games for the Flash before the injuries to Okur and Boozer prompted the Jazz to re-call him. "Of course that's one good thing about the D-League: It gives guys a chance to play and get in good shape."

HE SAID IT: Lakers coach Phil Jackson, after Utah scored 70 of its 120 points in the paint despite not having its two big men: "One of my coaches said we were as soft as Dairy Cream ice cream tonight ... (The Jazz) were just having a frolic in the lane."

AWARD CANDIDATE: Though booed upon his Friday return to Utah after asking out of his contract with the Jazz and re-signing this past summer with the Lakers, guard Derek Fisher is among nearly 40 nominees for Sports Illustrated magazine's prestigious Sportsman of the Year award.

SI writer Kostya Kennedy nominated Fisher for his memorable playoff return to Utah after flying to New York, where his young daughter Tatum was being treated for a rare form of childhood eye cancer.

Wrote Kennedy:

"Afterward, teammates marveled that he had shown up at all ... Fisher shrugged it off. 'That's what I do,' he said. 'It's not who I am, but it's what I do.'

"That clear perspective, compounded by his steady and confident action, is at the root of Fisher's worthiness as Sportsman of the Year. He never for a moment put basketball ahead of his daughter and yet he never minimized basketball's real importance to himself and his community — a man's career and lifelong passion isn't rendered meaningless even by life-and-death stakes. Fisher, his priorities unwaveringly straight, recognized that.

"Fisher ... has always been a class act. Never has he been classier than this year, when he showed everyone how a true Sportsman behaves."

SI will name its award winner early this week.

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com