Utah Jazz: Korver benches himself after hurting knee acts up again

CHARLOTTE — Jazz shooting guard Kyle Korver, his surgically repaired left knee still not nearly healthy, pulled himself out of the second half of Utah's win Saturday night against the Charlotte Bobcats.

"I wasn't gonna help the team out there," Korver said. "I couldn't play the second half (Friday night at Atlanta) either, so I took myself out of the game."

Korver underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur from his knee in late October.

He's played four games since but hasn't appeared for more than 15 minutes in any of them, including a two-minute stint in Saturday's victory over the Bobcats.

"I have no explosiveness," said Korver, who is in the final season of his current contract with the Jazz. "I can't turn to my left, I can hardly jump. ... It hurts to shoot a stand-still 3, you know?

"Until it gets stronger, I'm not gonna help the team out there," he added. "So, I'll try to get it better."

There's no timetable for Korver's anticipated return, though on Saturday it seemed quite unlikely he'd be ready to play when the Jazz go Monday night at Orlando.

e-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com