Utah Jazz notes: Sloan opts to keep same starting lineup

After seriously contemplating a change to his starting lineup, Jerry Sloan stuck with a starting lineup of point guard Deron Williams, shooting guard C.J. Miles, small forward Ronnie Brewer, power forward Paul Millsap and center Mehmet Okur for Tuesday night's game against the San Antonio Spurs.

"We've discussed that, and I've discussed it, and I've discussed it," the Jazz coach said Tuesday morning.

Ultimately, though, no switch was made.

"I don't know how we change the minutes around and really see a drastic change," Sloan said.

"Maybe we'll do it (in the future)," he added. "I don't know."

Jazz point guard Deron Williams suggested mere discussion of change did not go unnoticed, especially by the two players who were the likeliest candidates to be benched, Miles and Brewer.

"I think they got the message by that," he said.

"We need both those guys playing at a high level right now,"

Williams added, "for us to have a chance of winning."

Miles, though, acted as if he were unaware that Sloan specifically addressed the possibility of benching him following last Sunday's loss at Denver.

"He said he was gonna change (the opening lineup); nobody said it was gonna be me," he said. "(I'm) not saying that it couldn't be, but everybody comes at me. I don't know anything about it. I don't make any decisions.

"Of course we're appreciative of (the chance to remain starters), and we're gonna keep playing hard," Miles said. "We're not playing bad on purpose, or making mistakes on purpose. We're just gonna keep playing and (working) our way through slumps, and try to get back to where we've been."

KIRILENKO UPDATE: With a bone fragment still caught between two bones in his right ankle, Jazz sixth-man forward Andrei Kirilenko simply can't be his usual self.

"I can't run," he said Tuesday. "I can't move good. That's the main thing. I can't go and play, because it's just bothering me."

That is why in-season surgery remains an option for Kirilenko, who — after a second one last week did no good — took a third cortisone shot in his ailing ankle/foot Monday.

He has missed six games since early December because of the injury, including four in a row following Tuesday's meeting with the Spurs.

Kirilenko had hoped to put off surgery until the offseason, but now he may not be able to afford to wait.