Kirilenko doesn't expect he'll be sidelined for long

Usual Jazz starting small forward Andrei Kirilenko missed Saturday's loss to Boston because of an injury sustained in Friday's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Jazz are calling the injury a strained right biceps tendon and deeming him to be out "day-to-day," but Kirilenko said Saturday night that his injury really is more of a muscle-related matter in his right shoulder area.

"I don't feel any pain. It feels OK," he said. "But when I start raising, moving it, it just gets weak..... Try to pass and shoot, I feel like it's completely dead. Like my muscle doesn't want to support."

Kirilenko was injured in Friday's first quarter, exited in the second and did not return after halftime.

"I was kind of leaning forward, trying to intercept pass," he said, "and (the Lakers' Trevor Ariza) kind of pulled my arm back."

Kirilenko said he doesn't expect to miss much action, and Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor suggested the same.

"I don't feel like it's long time," said Kirilenko, who — despite the suspicion by some that the injury is the type that can linger — suggested he may be able to return as soon as Monday's game vs. Portland.

"There's nothing structurally wrong. It's a strain," O'Connor added. "How long it's going to be depends on ... how quickly he can come back and tolerate the pain and compete on the floor."

O'Connor, meanwhile, said Saturday's trade of shooting guard Gordan Giricek and a protected first-round draft pick to Philadelphia for swingman Kyle Korver had nothing whatsoever to do with Kirilenko's injury.

"Not at all," O'Connor said. "Andrei's status is completely irrelevant to this trade."

SLOAN ON JACKSON: The Lakers' win over Utah on Friday vaulted Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson into a tie with longtime Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach for seventh place on the NBA's regular-season victories list with 938, and Jackson can pass Auerbach if L.A. beats Boston tonight.

But Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, who ranks fourth on the same list with 1,051, suggested Jackson and Auerbach cannot be compared.

"If they coached all the same guys, maybe you could," Sloan told the Associated Press. "But they've both been blessed with great players, and that gives you a chance every night.