Forward Andrei Kirilenko used a towel to blot away tears from his red and swollen eyes Sunday while discussing his minimal role in the Jazz's 84-75 loss to the Rockets in Game 1.

Kirilenko, who played just 16 minutes, came to the bench with five minutes left in the third quarter and didn't return until the last seven seconds of the fourth, with the game long since decided. He never got the chance to see if he could disrupt Tracy McGrady on defense.

"I want to play 48 minutes," said Kirilenko, who earned $12.3 million this season in the second year of a six-year, maximum-salary contract. "I want to play and I want to be on the court. All I can provide is effort, no matter how many minutes I'm going to play. . . . I wouldn't say I did great, but I did something. It's just hard to explain because it's been whole year."

Coach Jerry Sloan said Kirilenko was playing poorly - he finished with two points, one rebound, a steal, an assist and a blocked shot - so "I have to try to play somebody who can keep us in the ballgame."

Kirilenko also was 0-for-2 from the free-throw line. "I can't shoot it for him," said Sloan.

Sloan's assessment was that he couldn't afford not to have Matt Harpring (14 points) in the game, that the Rockets were backing off Kirilenko and daring him to shoot and that nothing has changed in the Jazz's offense or defense to explain why Kirilenko has struggled.

"That's just one game," Sloan said. "I'm not trying to hurt anybody's feelings or anything. My job is to win. The way you do that is to have everybody play hard and play well. We can't do it any other way. We need Andrei's play. We need him to come and play."

Without Kirilenko on the floor, the Jazz were left to defend McGrady with guards Derek Fisher and Gordan Giricek, and it didn't work. The Rockets took off on a 16-4 run the moment Kirilenko left the game, with McGrady scoring 10 of his 22 second-half points in the final 3:42 of the period.

"I know it's very uncomfortable for him," Sloan said. "It's uncomfortable for me. I'm not happy with it, but I don't know exactly how to handle it."

Harpring suggested the Jazz might try to use him and Kirilenko at the same time tonight - a strategy they have employed at times earlier this season and that might allow the lanky Russian to disrupt McGrady, who easily shot over Fisher and Giricek.

"Ultimately, this is definitely a coach decision," center Mehmet Okur said. "I mean, whatever he say, he's the boss. But we need A.K., that's the bottom line. . . . This is going to be a long series, I believe, and definitely we're going to need him."

Carlos Boozer was asked if he would like to see Kirilenko have his shot at McGrady and see if his long arms could make life difficult for the Rockets star.

"To be honest, I think it's going to come down to that." Boozer said. "I do think that D-Fish is doing a great job on him. I think Matt's doing a great job on him. I think A.K. could be the X-factor. If he can tip the ball, block some shots, disrupt him a little bit.

"If A.K. gets a chance, you're going to look forward to it."

mcl@sltrib.com

rsiler@sltrib.com