Utah Jazz: Millsap out tonight, possibly a week more

Paul Millsap will not play for the Utah Jazz tonight against the Dallas Mavericks and the power forward could be out for 7-10 days, according to the team.

Results of an MRI test taken on Christmas Eve revealed that Millsap sprained his PCL in his left knee during Tuesday night's game against Milwaukee.

Though the test showed no tear in the ligament, the injury will force him to miss the first game of his NBA career. Millsap, who will not travel with the team to Houston on Saturday, had played in 194 consecutive games since being picked up in the second round of the 2006 draft by the Jazz. His streak was the seventh-longest in the NBA.

"I'm healing," Millsap said today. "It's going to take a few days. They say about 7-to-10 days, depending on how I feel. But hopefully, you know, it'll be sooner than that."

Not having Millsap, who's filled in for the injured and still-unavailable Carlos Boozer, will leave the Jazz especially thin in the middle tonight. Starting center Mehmet Okur is being listed as "doubtful" for tonight, as he continues to suffer from lower-back spasms that also kept him out of Tuesday's game.

Without those three big men, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan announced after shootaround this morning that his team will likely start with 19-year-old rookie Kosta Koufos at center and Andrei Kirilenko at power forward. This will be the Russian's first start of the 2008-09 season.

The Jazz could only have 11 players dress for tonight's game.

"If you're sitting on the bench and you say, 'I'm not getting to play,' tonight you might get to play," Sloan said. "That's just the way this business works."

Second-year center Kyrylo Fesenko will likely be called into rare action as well. He started Tuesday but didn't return after a short stint.

The Jazz also announced today that Jarron Collins has rejoined the team. He will have his inflamed right elbow, injured in an offseason golf-cart accident, evaluated by the team physician, Dr. Lyle Mason, prior to the game.

As for Boozer, he will not play this weekend. Instead of heading to Houston with the team, the two-time All-Star will travel to Dr. Richard Ferkel in Los Angeles, where he will get a third MRI taken on his left leg, a team spokesperson said. For this "special MRI," a dye will be injected into Boozer's knee joint in an extra effort to give doctors a better look inside at his bruised kneecap.

Deron Williams will play and said his right calf continues to get better. He says the pressure to play well isn't just on him, though.

"I think it's a team effort. I think guys are going to have to step up, defensively, offensively," he said. "We've got a tough team coming here tonight that's playing well. Then we've got to go to Houston tomorrow. It's two big games for us after a bad road trip."