From Deseret News archives:
Utah Jazz: 'Tweaked' back forces Knight to sidelines
Also out of action this morning were two free-agent hopefuls, guard Gerry McNamara and big man Kevin Lyde.
McNamara has whiplash and a sore jaw after hitting his head on the floor during Wednesday's late session.
Lyde was ill and stayed back at the Jazz's team hotel here.
Knight said he did not want to put a timetable on his return, but added that he did not think the injury was a serious one.
"We're just going to play it by ear," he said.
"Backs and stuff — kind of take it as it is," said Knight, who added the injury is not a typical one for him. "I've never had it. Just got caught the wrong way, I think. Those things tend to happen."
Knight said he "tweaked" the back, and that it was still "a little stiff" this morning. The injury occurred when he tried to fight through a play in which starting point Deron Williams was defending him.
The absences — and that of backup small forward Matt Harpring, who continues to work out with private trainers in California, and Summer Olympians Williams, Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko, who are working out just once a day — left the Jazz with just 11 players practicing this morning.
At least 14 — including Williams, Boozer and Kirilenko — are expected to take part in an open-to-the-public scrimmage tonight that starts at 6 p.m. in Boise State University's Taco Bell Arena.
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com
