Eleven days after he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, Carlos Boozer said Tuesday that he had started his rehab program and was hopeful he could resume playing sometime next month.
"I'm walking pretty good and I feel very comfortable," Boozer said. "I'm still trying get a little bit of the swelling out, so I can have more mobility. I'm building the strength of it right now. But I'm on the right path. It's going good."
After Boozer underwent surgery Jan. 9, the Jazz announced that his rehab program would take four weeks before he was reevaluated. The All-Star forward was asked Tuesday about the possibility of returning by the Feb. 13-15 All-Star break.
"I'd like to be back by All-Star," Boozer said. "We'll see how the knee gets better and we'll go from there."
Even if he returns four weeks after surgery, Boozer suggested he could need another week or two to get back in game shape. "I'll use playing and practice and games to get back to my normal self," he said.
Boozer has missed 30 games since he was injured Nov. 19. Should he return after the All-Star break, Boozer and the Jazz would have 29 games left in the season to make their playoff push.
"That'd be great," Boozer said. "We could get in the playoffs and get into one of the top four seeds. It'd be great to have home-court advantage for a little bit. That's our goal."
The Jazz have gone 17-13 without Boozer. Even though the Jazz came into Tuesday tied for the Western Conference's eighth and final playoff spot, Boozer noted that the team trailed Denver by only 2½ games for the Northwest Division lead.
"It's frustrating to see us go up and down right now because I feel like we have a really talented team once we get completely healthy and get going," Boozer said. "We're playing against teams that are at full strength. That goes against us sometimes."
Kirilenko Out
Andrei Kirilenko exited Tuesday's game in the second quarter with an inflamed right ankle and did not return. He received a cortisone shot before leaving the arena and said the discomfort in the ankle was similar to what kept him out of two games in December.
Kirilenko traveled with the Jazz to Houston, but didn't expect to play tonight. "I know how it's going to feel tomorrow," he said. Kirilenko was hopeful he could return Saturday against Cleveland and said he thought a previous cortisone shot had simply worn off.
"It just started before the game," said Kirilenko, who will need surgery after the season, "and I start feeling a little funny and during the game it starts [getting] worse and worse."
