SALT LAKE CITY -- Tired? A handful of games into the season?
They'd better not be.
Those were the sentiments Jazz coach Jerry Sloan put out last Saturday, minutes after seeing his team win its third consecutive game with a short-handed lineup.
"We've only played 12 games," Sloan said. "This is not college, they're not being redshirted."
Truthfully, last weekend's 100-97 overtime victory over the Detroit Pistons was Utah's 13th game of the season. The win gave the Jazz a 7-6 overall record, putting them above .500 for the first time all year.
Not bad considering Sloan hasn't yet been able to look down his bench and see a full complement of players.
The Jazz earned wins over Toronto, San Antonio and Detroit last week; they did so with only nine players available each night.
Wings Kyle Korver and C.J. Miles, guard Ronnie Price and center Mehmet Okur all sat out with various injuries and illnesses.
Okur, who missed three contests with the flu, is expected to return to the floor for tonight's game with Oklahoma City at EnergySolutions Arena.
Okur practiced on Monday and said he felt much better than he did last week.
He said he was tested for the H1N1 virus, but was found to be suffering with a different strain. He showed up for morning shoot-around before the Nov. 18 game with Toronto, but could not make it to the game that night.
"I wanted to be OK," he said. "But I felt kind of weird."
Even with Okur back in the lineup tonight, the Jazz still figure to be down three players -- four counting small forward Matt Harpring, who is still on the roster, but not expected to play this season.
Sloan said being short-handed is not an excuse, especially so early in the season.
"I would assume they would try to get stronger at this stage in the season," he said. "Players like to play and it's easier for them to play with less guys (in the rotation) because they know they're going to be on the floor longer and they can play a little bit more relaxed."
Power forward Carlos Boozer has averaged 20.6 points and an even 12 rebounds over the last three games, and point guard Deron Williams has averaged 18.3 points and 10 assists over that span.
Williams said having only nine players available last week was "tough." But he, like Sloan, refused to use that as an excuse for fatigue.
"We're usually at 15 (players) so it's a big difference," he said. "And playing 40 (minutes) every night takes its toll. But there are no excuses in this game. We've got to go with what we've got.SDRq
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