Asked at the Jazz's pregame shootaround how much sleep he was operating on, Harpring answered only, "I got enough." He was otherwise beaming about the arrival of Kate Eileen Harpring, born about a week earlier than expected.

"It's an unbelievable experience," Harpring said. "It was great for [2-year-old son] Luke and it just reminded you of what a miracle it is when it comes out. I mean, it really is. It's great."

Harpring also shared the story behind why he and his wife didn't initially announce a name for their new daughter when she was born Thursday night.

They were considering three or four names and then quickly pared the list to two when Mandy went into labor. "We decided to wait a night to think about it," Harpring said, "and then the next morning, we got up, we both agreed on Kate Eileen."

Harpring finished with 11 points in Saturday's victory over Orlando, including a nice spin move around Maurice Evans for a reverse layup in the fourth quarter.

Summer games

For the first time, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan acknowledged that Mehmet Okur''s summer with the Turkish national team was a contributing factor to his slow start this season. The same thing also once applied to John Stockton and Karl Malone, Sloan added.

"To try to pump yourself up for all that sometimes that takes a little bit out of you," Sloan said, "and there's not anything you can do about it except just play."

Andrei Kirilenko played for Russia at the European championships and Deron Williams did likewise for the U.S. at the Tournament of the Americas. "I think it affects a lot of people," Sloan said, adding, "They do it and we wish them well."

With Okur averaging 19.0 points in January and scoring a season-high 29 on Saturday, Sloan said: "He's played awfully well here of late. I think he's shooting the ball probably better than any other time this year. He seems to be shooting the ball with comfort."

Briefly

Dwight Howard's 24 free-throw attempts tied a Jazz opponent record shared by Kevin Johnson and Kobe Bryant. "That'd be nice one day to have 24 free throws," Carlos Boozer said. . . . C.J. Miles went from a starter in Kirilenko's absence to not playing Saturday. . . . The Jazz assisted on 32 of 39 field goals in the game.

rsiler@sltrib.com