Utah Jazz game is against Bulls, not just former teammates

SALT LAKE CITY — An electric, perhaps even playoff, atmosphere awaits the Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls when Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer return to EnergySolutions Arena tonight.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan is hoping his team doesn't get caught up in the hype and hoopla.

"Our concentration has to be on what we have to do," Sloan said. "We're not trying to beat Boozer — we're trying to beat Chicago. I think that's the most important thing is we got to go and play against Chicago."

Utah will be focused on the Bulls, but it would take a robot to ignore tonight's intriguing storylines.

The Jazz playing against three former teammates makes for one of the most anticipated home games of the season. Obviously, Boozer is at the center of the excitement for tonight's game as fans can't wait to greet one of the most polarizing players in franchise history.

Jazz players said Boozer doesn't deserve the boos that likely await him.

"He's going to get booed, but it's going to sound like Booz so …," said Jazz guard Deron Williams, smiling. "I'm sure there's going to be some mixed reactions. Some people love Booz, some people hate him. He did a lot for this franchise, won a lot of games while he was here. He was a great teammate."

Williams said much of the criticism directed at Boozer was unfair.

"He had some injuries while he was here that definitely caused him to miss some games," he said. "He always wanted to be out there. He always wanted to play, wanted to be out there with his team. A lot of it (criticism) was unfair."

Sloan agreed with Williams, saying he didn't understand why Boozer, who missed almost a third of the games while a member of the Jazz, was vilified for being hurt when others weren't.

"From my standpoint, you can't do anything about the injuries," Sloan said. "I think a lot of people had comments on that one way or the other. All I can do as a coach, if he's healthy, play him, if he's not healthy, don't play him."

Boozer said he expects to hear a mixture of cheers and boos, and was seemingly serving a warning if the greeting is too hostile.

"Little do they know, haters motivate," Boozer said. "So guys like me take that in stride and use that as fuel."