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In the minutes before Tuesday morning's practice, Andrei Kirilenko isolated himself to a corner basket, shooting jumpers with Jeff Hornacek.
His stroke looked smooth. Confident. Like every shot was meant to go in. Kind of like his performance in Monday night's win over the Detroit Pistons.
It was Kirilenko's second game back for the Utah Jazz after missing time with a balky back. And it went much better than his return on Saturday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
"I felt much better," Kirilenko said. "I was much stronger and I was able to get a flow. It was a good game for me."
And good for the Jazz as well. Against the Pistons, Kirilenko scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting. He made all four of his free-throw attempts, grabbed three rebounds and was a plus-13 in his 35 minutes on the floor.
Most importantly, he anchored the second unit when the Jazz made a big run in the second quarter. He looked much more active than he did on Saturday, when he scored a mere four points in 18 minutes and looked hesitant with every move he made on the court.
"It was good for Andrei to get back into things," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "I think it just took a little time for him to find his rhythm. When you miss time due to injury, sometimes it can take a little bit to get your timing back. He looked much better last night."
Still experimenting
With 35 games of the regular season behind the Jazz, the rotation still hasn't been fully determined. In Tuesday's practice, Sloan said he's still figuring out who will play the bulk of the minutes, something he said isn't exactly unique since Utah's had to deal with multiple injuries. C.J. Miles, Kirilenko, Raja Bell, and Mehmet Okur have all missed games with one ailment or another. As such, the Jazz have had precious little time playing games with a full roster.
"We're still new as a team," Utah point guard Deron Williams said. "It's going to take a little time to get our chemistry there."
The question is whether that has had a hand with the Jazz getting off to slow starts this season. Monday's win over the Pistons served as an example, as Detroit scored 28 first-quarter points while Utah looked sluggish.
The Jazz are grinding out wins because Williams has been great in fourth quarters. But the slow starts are clearly taking a toll.
"It's not acceptable for us," Williams said. "We want to play well for 48 minutes."
Odds and ends
Paul Millsap missed Tuesday's practice with a bruised hip he suffered in Monday's win over the Pistons. He will be a game-time decision Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks.
Okur has missed several games with a back strain. He practiced lightly on Tuesday, and is still listed as day-to-day. .... Gordon Hayward became the odd man out in Sloan's rotation with the return of Miles. He played just six minutes against Detroit, when he had previously been seeing extended time when the Jazz were short-handed.
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