Utah Jazz: Kirilenko holds no ill will

Andrei Kirilenko holds no ill will toward Dirk Nowitzki for the flagrant foul he committed Monday night, one that cost Kirilenko a sprained right hip and Nowitzki a one-game suspension sans pay.

"I don't really think he did it for, like, mean purpose," said Kirilenko, who was injured in the first quarter of the Jazz's win Monday over the Mavericks. "Probably because of the situation — he already lost the position, he was trying to stop somehow.

"It happens in the game," added Kirilenko, who thought Nowitzki was off-balance on the play. "I'm not looking (for) revenge."

Kirilenko, the Jazz's starting small forward, sat out Wednesday's win over Minnesota. He also said Wednesday he will not travel with the team today to Phoenix, where Utah faces the Suns on Friday.

Beyond that, it's unknown how long the 2004 NBA All-Star from Russia will be out.

"It's a tough question," Kirilenko said. "I never have hip injury before. So I really don't have an answer. But I don't think it's going to be a long time."

X-rays taken Monday at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful were negative, as was an MRI exam performed Tuesday.

Nowitzki, who apologized to Kirilenko shortly after committing the foul, was suspended one game by the NBA on Wednesday. The league's reigning MVP will sit out Dallas' game tonight against division rival Houston.

He will lose more than $148,000 from his approximately $16.36 million in annual salary.

"For us, as a player, we don't like (when) people get suspended," Kirilenko said. "Because it takes money away from the player. But it is what it is. I'm not looking for more games to suspend, or less. Not my job."

Nowitzki also had his foul, originally called a Flagrant Penalty 1, upgraded to a Flagrant Penalty 2 upon further review by the league.

It was his first flagrant this season.

A flagrant-2 is defined as "unnecessary and excessive contact" and results in automatic ejection when called during a game.

Factors considered for reclassification include, according to the NBA, "how hard the foul was ... and the level of the injury sustained by the player."

A flagrant-2 results in two penalty points, as opposed to one. If a player's season total for penalty points exceeds five, he will receive an automatic suspension in the following game — and a suspension for each additional flagrant foul after that.