The bad news is they're going to have to keep trying.

The Jazz said Kirilenko could miss up to two weeks - a stretch that could include the final six regular-season games and the start of the playoffs - with the injured left thumb he suffered in the loss at Sacramento on Friday night.

So while teammate Deron Williams bounced back from the strained groin he suffered against the Kings to compile 24 points and 13 assists in a 106-103 loss to Seattle at EnergySolutions Arena on Saturday night, Kirilenko sat subdued behind the Jazz bench, in a gray suit and a protective split on his injured thumb.

"I can't do a thing about it," coach Jerry Sloan said.

Yet it's hard not to imagine that Kirilenko might have had some luck defending Seattle's Rashard Lewis, the 6-foot-10 forward who took the game over and scored 16 of his game-high 35 points in the fourth quarter to hand the Jazz their second straight meltdown loss.

"I don't know what happened," center Mehmet Okur said. "We have to figure out what's going on right now."

In place of Kirilenko, rookie Ronnie Brewer made his first start since a loss to New Orleans on Jan. 27. He hadn't played in the previous five games, but finished with 12 points.

Rough finish

Guard Derek Fisher has not had the easiest time during the recent fourth-quarter fades.

After making just one of his eight shots in the final period of a 107-103 loss at Sacramento, the veteran missed all six of his fourth-quarter shots against the Sonics - including his attempt at a putback of Okur's miss in the waning seconds.

"I thought it was foul," Okur said. "But they didn't call" it.

mcl@sltrib.com