Utah Jazz: Memo returns, but Kirilenko, Brewer sit

Starting center Mehmet Okur returned to the Jazz lineup Monday against Washington, but starting small forward Andrei Kirilenko and starting shooting guard Ronnie Brewer both sat out.

Kirilenko missed a second straight game due to a bruised right calf, an injury that was originally sustained in a March 14 game at Boston, but that did not keep him from playing until the second half of last Friday's win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

He should be back soon.

"I think next game," Kirilenko said.

The Jazz play Minnesota on Wednesday.

Brewer sat out due to a strained right groin sustained in Sunday's loss at Minnesota. He also missed the Clippers game with stomach virus-symptoms.

Said Brewer: "I wanted to play, but I got out there (in pregame warmups) ... I don't know."

With Brewer and Kirilenko both out Monday, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan started backup point guard Ronnie Price at shooting guard and reserve swingman C.J. Miles at small forward.

Okur was back after missing two games due to the effects of a stomach virus, something he's battled twice this season.

Okur, who scored 16 in Utah's 129-87 win, said he wasn't 100 percent, but "I felt a lot better."

His presence, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan suggested, was noticeable.

"What makes a big difference," Sloan said, "is when Memo's on the floor it opens things up for everybody else. You get a chance to get some inside play and some outside play. He makes a tremendous difference."

KNEED TO KNOW: Washington's absentees Monday included Gilbert Arenas, who remains sidelined following a microfracture procedure performed in November on his left knee.

Jazz forward Matt Harpring, who has undergone two microfracture knee surgeries, spoke with Arenas after the Wizards' star finished a workout that included sprints with a bungee cord attached to his waist.

Said Harpring: "I said, 'It's always gonna be there. It's not one of these things where it's like a bone spur, where it's gone and (you) never feel pain again.' I mean, your knee, it's just not the same after that. You can't expect it to be."