"It's a tough job," Sloan said of Harpring's reserve role. "It takes a lot of concentration. You have to stay with what you're doing to try to make it work. That's why Matt Harpring's been so valuable to us. He's been able to come off the bench, and you don't have to give him 10 possessions to get him warmed up.

"He looks like he's never warmed up when he's sitting there," Sloan added, "but as soon as he steps on that floor, he's ready to roll, and that's a big asset."

• BREWER also traveled and plans to play today.

Ditto for Millsap, who scored 13 Friday.

"It was pretty bad," Brewer said of his illness. "I thought maybe I had food poisoning, but (it was) just like a flu bug or something."

All the uncertainty prompted the recalls of 2007 first-round draft choice Almond and second-rounder Fesenko, who earlier this season appeared in six and seven games for the Jazz, respectively.

"What we really looked at," general manager Kevin O'Connor said, "was that we weren't sure of the availability of some of our players and how long they're going to be out."

Because Fesenko has been assigned to the Flash three times this season, he cannot be reassigned again — and instead will finish out the season with the parent club.

"If this had been three months ago I don't know if we would have done it if it was the last callup," O'Connor said. "But with five (Flash) games left and the pennant race ... we're in, it's good for the Utah Jazz."

Almond — who has averaged 25.0 points and 1.6 assists in 31 D-League games — remains eligible for another assignment to the Flash.

But it remains to be seen what his short-term future holds.

"Uhhh, there's a small crack in the door," the Rice University product said of the opportunity, "but you just kind of take it day by day."

"Right now," Sloan added, "we're just worried about trying to win the next game."

The 48-25 Jazz are just two games out of first place in the NBA's Western Conference yet still aren't assured of a playoff berth in a conference with nine contenders and eight spots available.

They did consider signing someone from outside the organization, O'Connor suggested, but decided otherwise in part because of how little time remains in the season.

"'Go with what we've got.' That's always been the philosophy of coach (Sloan)," O'Connor said. "He'd rather have somebody that knows what we're doing."

Especially with work still to be done.

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Contributing: Linda Hamilton
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com