Or not.

Boozer and Williams both practiced Thursday morning, but their availability won't be determined until game time, team spokesperson Cindy Edman said.

Boozer has been sidelined with a fractured tibia since Jan. 27 - almost four weeks. He has missed the Jazz's last eight games.

Williams suffered a strained groin in last week's Rookie Challenge during All-Star Weekend and watched Tuesday night's 103-100 loss at Portland.

Asked if he would play against Denver, Williams said, "It's hard to tell. When I walk around, it doesn't hurt, when I do everyday stuff."

Williams said coach Jerry Sloan, vice president of basketball operations Kevin O'Connor and "everybody else" have warned him against rushing back.

"They told me to be smart about it," he said. "They know I want to play every game. But I've got to be smart about it and use my head."

Williams said he did not play at Portland, in part, because he wanted to try and be ready for the game against Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson and Denver.

"I thought this game was more important," he said.

After watching the Jazz go 6-2 without him - including wins over Phoenix and San Antonio - Boozer admits getting into game shape "will take a little bit of time." But he hopes the process begins against the Nuggets.

Before committing to playing, however, he wants to see how his injured leg responded to practice.

"We'll play it by ear," he said.

Buying the numbers?

The Jazz, who are seeking their first division title since the 1999-2000 season, take an 8 1/2 -game lead into tonight's game against second-place Denver.

With a win, Utah's advantage would balloon to 9 1/2 games, and it would clinch the season series for the Jazz, giving them the tiebreaker in case the teams finish with identical records.

"With or without me, we need to win," said Boozer, who declined to agree a victory would end Denver's hopes in the Northwest Division race.

"I'm not going to say it would knock them out," he said. "There are a lot of games left. You never know what can happen. But from our standpoint, we can win the series and that's important."

With a victory, the Jazz would improve to 36-18. The Nuggets would slip to 26-27.

The Jazz's magic number for winning the division would drop to 20, meaning any combination of Utah wins and Denver losses totaling 20 would eliminate the Nuggets.

Looking at it another way, if the Jazz win tonight and went only 14-14 over their final 28 games, the Nuggets would have to go 25-4 to overtake them.

Fall apart, or fight back?

Sloan isn't interested in possibilities.

After the Jazz's lackluster loss at Portland, he wants to see if his players can put the All-Star break and Thursday's trade deadline behind them and focus on the task at hand.

"The biggest thing . . . is to get back on track," he said. "In this business, they say one game isn't a big deal. But are we going to fall apart or fight back? That's the thing that concerns you."

The Jazz have already beaten the Nuggets twice this season, but Sloan doesn't take much from those victories.

"They're tough for us to play against," he said. "We won a couple of games because they were out of sync. But before it's all over, they'll be a good basketball team."

luhm@sltrib.com