Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko played in Saturday night's game against the Clippers, no thanks to Robin Lopez .
Kirilenko was the victim of Lopez' flagrant foul in the final minutes of the Jazz's 116-108 win at Phoenix on Thursday.
Lopez shoved Kirilenko in the back after he stole the ball and went in for a dunk.
Kirilenko ended up flying over some photographers who were seated along the baseline. He landed awkwardly just in front of the first row of fans.
"I'm all right," Kirilenko said at Saturday morning's shootaround. "It didn't hurt much. Just a little."
Carlos Boozer , who was trailing the play, said, "To me, A.K. could have gotten tore up pretty nice. But he's an agile player."
Lopez was called for a Grade I flagrant foul, which has been upgraded to a Grade II by the NBA.
But Lopez was not ejected or suspended, to the displeasure of the Jazz, who have seen Kirilenko miss nine games this season, all because of nagging back issues.
"I thought it was a non-basketball play and that bothered us," said general manager Kevin O'Connor , who called the league office after the game.
"Somebody can get hurt in that situation and when you can get somebody hurt you have to try and protect your players."
So, did Lopez get off easy?
"The league is always good about reviewing all that stuff and giving their best advice to everybody," coach Jerry Sloan said. "I think that's all you can do. ... You just don't want to see a player get hurt."
Price back to backup
Ronnie Price returned to his familiar role against the Clippers.
Price was the first point guard off the bench, after relinquishing those duties in Phoenix.
When Williams picked up two fouls on the same possession against L.A., he was replaced by Price.
In Phoenix, Sloan went with Gaines when Williams got into foul trouble late in the first half.
Gaines responded by scoring six quick points, including a 30-foot three-pointer at the buzzer that enabled Utah to cut the Suns' game-long lead to 57-50.
In the second half, Williams sat out for only a minute but, when he did, Gaines again got the call ahead of Price.
"That was just a gut reaction," Sloan said. "Ronnie had struggled in his play and what we were trying to do and, you know, I'll have to see what I think when the game's going on.
"It was just one of those things. I felt it was fair to play him in that situation and he stepped out there and played pretty well."
