Ronnie Brewer caused a minor stir Thursday when he failed to arrive at the Jazz's facility for the start of practice. Once he got in touch with team officials, though, Brewer informed them that he was suffering from back spasms and couldn't drive.

Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor said Brewer's explanation checked out. Brewer was set to undergo two days of treatment for his back and did not make the trip to Sacramento for tonight's preseason finale.

Ronnie Price is expected to start in Brewer's place. Price missed the Jazz's previous three preseason games with a strained left hamstring but went through practice Thursday and said the area in which he was experiencing pain had narrowed.

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The Jazz and Brewer, meanwhile, are facing an Oct. 31 deadline by which to agree on a contract extension. Brewer otherwise would become a restricted free agent at season's end. His agent, Henry Thomas , didn't return a message Thursday.

 

For starters

The Jazz appear set to open the season with Paul Millsap coming off the bench, with coach Jerry Sloan describing Tuesday's starting five of Deron Williams , Brewer, Andrei Kirilenko , Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur as "pretty close to what we'd start in the regular season."

With Kirilenko potentially returning to the starting lineup, Sloan said he wasn't concerned about depth off the

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bench, noting that Millsap can play for stretches at small forward, Kirilenko at power forward, and Price and Williams at shooting guard.

Millsap, meanwhile, was asked about setting his sights on winning the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award. "If I get out there and continue to be me, it's possible," he said.

Millsap also said there was nothing physically wrong to explain why he's scored four points or fewer in three of the last four games. He went 0-for-6 and fouled out in 21 minutes with three points and a rebound Tuesday.

"Stuff like that tends to frustrate people and I got a little frustrated," Millsap said of the foul trouble. "It affects your game mentally. I'm not making excuses, but sometimes it happens."

 

Plan of action

How much Sloan will play his regulars tonight to wrap up the exhibition season remains uncertain.

"Some of our front-line players, probably some of them need to play a little bit more, try to get a feel for what they're going to face when the season starts," Sloan said. "We'll see how it goes, see what kind of foul shape we're in, and that sort of thing."

 

Briefly

Kirilenko said he was still awaiting visa approval so his 2-month-old adopted daughter could come to Utah. ... Waived Thursday, Ronald Dupree averaged 3.4 points in seven games for the Jazz. The team also released rookie Paul Harris , who suffered a sprained right ankle before training camp and was unable to play.

rsiler@sltrib.com