By extension, the Jazz also maintain they didn't play Bryant — who was applying electrical stimulus to his back and standing throughout a brief postgame news conference — any differently Sunday.

"No," Boozer said. "Not at all. You know, we played Kobe like he's Kobe."

They also insist they'll do nothing differently Wednesday, no matter whether he's at full strength or something much less.

"I will try to play like (Sunday) — you know, kind of step a little bit back, force him to shoot the ball through the hand, and avoid those layups," Kirilenko said. "Because I think he's way more dangerous when he goes in, creates those fouls and tries to finish ... rather than just shooting — unless he got hot, and just started making those shots he was missing."

As for aid from teammates, Kirilenko and Brewer both suggested it remains requisite.

"Even if he's at 75 percent," Brewer said, "he's still capable of being one of the top players in the NBA."

"You still need help on him," Kirilenko added. "He's such a good player, you need to make him feel uncomfortable every time, make him feel like he has two, three defenders on him."

And the Jazz have no doubt that need will be present Wednesday.

"Kobe's gonna play," said Boozer, a Team USA teammate of Bryant's. "I don't think he's gonna be any different. When he has the ball in his hands, he's gonna be the same guy he's been, even if he can't jump as high. He has the same mentality. That's the biggest thing about Kobe Bryant: He has the same mindset, no matter what's ailing on his body.

"Kobe Bryant's gonna be Kobe Bryant," Boozer added. "We all expect him to have the kind of game he's always been having, whether he shoots over 30 times or not. For us, we're gonna prepare for him like he's 100 percent, like we always do."

Good plan, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan suggested after watching Bryant score at least 33 in each of the first four games of the tied-at-two, best-of-seven series.

"I learned lesson a long time ago," he said Monday, referencing one of Utah's two NBA Finals game losses to the Chicago Bulls. "We tried to tell our guys Michael Jordan was sick.

"If (Bryant) puts his uniform on and plays, don't worry about him being hurt," Sloan added. "You better get ready to play the guy, because he's a great player. He's got the ability to bury you, in a lot of different ways. That's what those guys can do. If you're looking over there thinking you're gonna have an easy time, that's where the problems come."

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com