As the doors opened to the Jazz's pregame shootaround Saturday, Mehmet Okur could be found taking light jumpers by himself at a far basket, occasionally hiking up the right leg of his shorts to reveal the heavy wrap he is wearing.
Okur still can't run full speed with the strained hamstring he suffered in Monday's victory over the L.A. Clippers and pegged his chances as "low" of playing this afternoon when the Jazz open their first-round playoff series against the Lakers.
The Jazz have not officially ruled out Okur, but have made contingency plans, with coach Jerry Sloan saying he would start veteran Jarron Collins in Okur's place, much as he did in Tuesday's regular-season finale against the Lakers.
Okur did not practice Thursday or Friday and did not take part in Saturday's shootaround. "It's hard to play if you can't run," Okur said, adding, "One thing I know, it's getting better. It's stronger and stronger. Hopefully, I'll be out there [Tuesday]."
Sloan said he wouldn't start Okur even if he was able to play today. The loss of Okur, however, would be a blow to the Jazz, who face long odds of upsetting the Lakers at full strength, let alone without their three-point shooting center.
"We can't really worry about it," Deron Williams said. "We've dealt with injuries all year, so I think we're better equipped for it. We're a little more used to it now. We need Memo back as soon as possible, but guys are ready to step in and fill in for him."
"We just have to play," Sloan added. "Memo gives us another shooting opportunity, a guy who can shoot the ball deep out on the floor. And that spreads the floor out a great deal more. [Otherwise] their big guys can just lay back in there and make it difficult for us."
Collins hadn't played in 10 of 11 games before seeing action in the Jazz's final two games with Okur injured. He had five points and six rebounds in 23 minutes Tuesday and would match up against 7-footer Andrew Bynum , leaving Pau Gasol for Carlos Boozer .
"There is such a thing as timing out there in the game," Collins said. "You try to keep yourself physically in shape and mentally ready to go in, but getting that experience of playing last game definitely helps."
Miles to play
C.J. Miles (dislocated left index finger) went through shootaround Saturday, shot his jumper with range and said he expected to play in Game 1. Miles did have his hand heavily taped, with one pad on the back of his knuckles and another between his fingers.
"Once I got going, it didn't really affect me that much," Miles said. "It actually felt better coming off my hand because I was able to keep my follow-through straight because my fingers are only going one way."
Miles was told he would not require hand surgery after the season, though he might have to see a therapist. He also wasn't sure whether he would return to the starting role he held for 72 games this season.
Sloan has started both Andrei Kirilenko and Matt Harpring in recent games with Miles out and said he was considering all options. "We've gotten killed with guys off the bench making shots and we've got to do a better job of trying to stop that," he said.
Optional reading
The Jazz have three players -- Boozer, Okur and Kyle Korver -- who can opt out of their contracts and become free agents after the season. All three will have the same deadline to do so, according to a league source.
The three have standard clauses enabling them to opt out from the day after the Jazz's final game of the season until June 30. For the 2009-10 season, Boozer is set to make $12.7 million, Okur $9 million and Korver $5.2 million.
