Utah Jazz: Miles, Brewer fight back

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Jazz coach Jerry Sloan pondered, but ultimately decided against, making any starting lineup changes for Friday's double-overtime win at Detroit.

Instead, he stuck with shooting guard Ronnie Brewer and small forward C.J. Miles — both of whom were benched for the second half of Wednesday night's come-from-behind win at New Jersey.

"I've got young guys," Sloan said by way of explanation. "I've got to see what they have at the end of the day, after they've had a bad game, and see how they fight back."

After Friday's victory, Sloan suggested he was pleased with the effort of both — especially after halftime.

"That's what you have," he said afterward. "You know, they're young. They've got to learn how to fight back, and not feel sorry for themselves, and do things more than just shoot the basketball.

"I thought C.J. tried to defend ... and got up and tried to play guys in the second half," Sloan added. "Those things are important if they're gonna make themselves even better."

Neither played in either of the overtime sessions, but 21-year-old Miles finished with seven points on 3-of-5 field shooting, two rebounds, one block and one steal in 17 minutes, and 23-year-old Brewer had 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field and six boards in 23 minutes.

NO RESULTS: Neither Carlos Boozer nor the Jazz shared any results of an second MRI exam performed Thursday on the two-time All-Star's ailing left knee.

Boozer, who has now missed 16 straight games, said he was still waiting for an interpretation report from his Los Angeles doctor.

"I'm anxious to hear what he has to say," Boozer said.

NO REACTION: Boozer had no reaction Friday to radio comments from Jazz owner Larry H. Miller calling his recent declaration of plans to opt out of his current contract one of the "top-10 stupidest things I've ever heard an NBA player do in 24 years."

"I talked to everybody in the (Jazz) office and told them obviously I made a mistake, and I apologized," Boozer said before Friday's game. "For me, I felt like I did the wrong thing by speaking about it. But it's over. It's done with.

"Obviously I let them know I want to be in a Jazz uniform," he added. "They know that."

Boozer has been told by Jazz management not to further discuss contract matters.

"I've been instructed to say that the front office with the Jazz and my agent will work everything else out, and I'll do my input this summer," he said.

RUMOR MILL: The Pistons have been identified as a possible suitor for Boozer should he opt out of his contract with the Jazz this summer, but conventional wisdom from some in the know — including one NBA front-office type — is that they're likelier to save their money for the 2010 market, when targets could be Toronto's Chris Bosh and Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire.

WEATHER WOES: Both the Jazz and Pistons canceled their morning shootarounds Friday due to a winter storm that dumped several inches of snow and made travel treacherous in the Detroit metro area.

The Jazz also wound up spending Friday night in suburban Detroit rather than flying to Chicago for tonight's game against the Bulls, because inclement weather prevented their charter plane from making it to Michigan.

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com