After sitting behind the bench in dress clothes for the Utah Jazz home-opener Friday, Mehmet Okur returned to the court with his teammates for practice Saturday morning.

The Jazz's starting center said both his left ankle and left knee have improved after a few days of treatment and rest since he moderately sprained them at the beginning of Wednesday night's season-opener in Denver while trying to take a charge against Nene.

Okur, who returned to play against the Nuggets, made it through a full practice session at the team's training facility. That coming a day after he sat out the team's morning shootaround and was sidelined during the Jazz's 111-98 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Being a second-row spectator, he said, was "not fun at all."

His body, however, is responding well.

"We just wanted to let my ankle and knee rest a little bit," Okur said. "I kind of banged out last game, but I feel great right now."

Kyle Korver also put on his workout garb and, after being teased by teammates for attempting an early comeback, shot free throws for a few minutes Saturday morning. The Jazz's shooting guard, who underwent surgery Wednesday to get a bone spur removed from his now heavily wrapped left knee, only shot around for a while and did not practice.

Both Korver and C.J. Miles (left thumb) will continue to rehab here until being reevaluated on their recent surgery-requiring injuries when the team travels to New York on Nov. 9.

Utah will practice again Sunday before hosting the Houston Rockets on Monday night.

e-mail: jody@desnews.com