After playing in the L.A. Lakers' last game before the All-Star break, Bryant was required to play in New Orleans and put in a 2-minute, 47-second appearance in which he did not take a shot and shied away from the action to protect his injured pinkie.
If he had not played, Bryant would have been forced by NBA rules to sit out the Lakers' first game back from the break. Williams, meanwhile, won the skills competition and was a leading candidate to be a last-minute injury replacement for Bryant.
"I think it was a really dumb rule,'' Bryant said. "I would have loved to see [Williams] in there playing and doing his thing. He's a deserving All-Star, without question. It's a stupid rule."
With so much interest in the recent trades involving Pau Gasol, Shaquille O'Neal and Jason Kidd, Bryant said the Jazz's climb up the Western Conference standings had caught his attention. The Jazz came into Friday trailing the Lakers by two games.
"All the media hype, obviously, it's easy to overlook a team like Utah because they're in Utah,'' Bryant said. "But the reality is they play great basketball, and so we as a basketball team understand how tough they are. I'm sure everybody else does as well."
Health watch
With Andrei Kirilenko and Carlos Boozer each missing practices this week, the Jazz were reminded of the extent to which they've benefited from good health all season.
"We've been fortunate,'' Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "You've got to have a lot of luck. That's the way I look at it. Guys can get hurt just playing or practice or anything."
"A lot of people don't realize how important that is," Sloan added, "if you can maintain continuity with everybody and you kind of have some rotation."
In fact, the Jazz rank 29th in the NBA in games lost to injury with 31. Only Phoenix has lost fewer games to injury with 22. The L.A. Clippers, who track the stat, lead the league with 179 games, the equivalent to 2.2 full seasons.
Neither star forward Elton Brand nor promising guard Shaun Livingston has played for the Clippers in 2007-08, with Brand suffering a ruptured Achilles' tendon last summer and Livingston a knee injury last season.
By contrast, the Jazz's most significant injury came when Mehmet Okur missed seven games with a strained left trapezius in December. The Jazz went 2-5 in Okur's absence, with teams often daring them to shoot against a zone defense.
Boozer sat out Wednesday's practice with a sore lower back and Kirilenko was sent home Thursday with flu-like symptoms. Both played Friday, though Kirilenko was concerned beforehand about his energy level.
rsiler@sltrib.com
Atlanta at Jazz
Where: EnergySolutions Arena
Tipoff: Today, 7 p.m.
TV: FSN Utah
Radio: 1320 AM, 98.7 FM
Records: Jazz 35-20; Atlanta 22-30
Last meeting: Jazz lost 116-111 on Dec. 17
Line: Jazz by 12 1/2
About the Jazz: The Jazz have won 13 consecutive home games and are tied with Dallas for the league's best home record at 23-3. They can avenge a disappointing loss to Atlanta in December, a game in which the Jazz gave up a killer 14-3 run in the fourth quarter. Carlos Boozer had a season-high 39 points against the Hawks.
About the Hawks: After trading for guard Mike Bibby last week, the Hawks dropped their first two games of this five-game trip to the L.A. Lakers and Sacramento. Atlanta gave up a combined 241 points in those losses. Bibby is suffering from a heel injury and rookie Acie Law IV injured his right wrist, leaving the Hawks thin at point guard.
