Indianapolis ? After sitting out Sunday's victory over Toronto with a sprained right ankle, Carlos Boozer will be back in the lineup for the Utah Jazz for Tuesday night's game against Indiana.
Boozer went through Tuesday's pregame shootaround, saying afterward, "It felt like something I could handle, so I'm going to go play." He did some running at Monday's practice to try to loosen up the ankle. He originally sprained the ankle in the first quarter of Friday's victory over Denver, but was able to finish the game. He said the pain in the ankle was not gone, but it was more manageable compared to Sunday.
"We've all had twisted ankles our whole careers at some point, a few different times," Boozer said. "Twisted ankles, unless they're real, real severe like [Deron Williams'] was, you can play on some of the pain. It loosens up as you go."
Boozer said the decision to sit out Sunday was not a case of playing it safe to avoid being sorry with four games remaining on the Jazz's trip.
"I'd be hurting my team more than I'd be helping my team if I played on it," Boozer said. "It ended up helping me because now it feels a lot better."
The Jazz will take an 11-game winning streak into Tuesday's game. Indiana will play without All-Star forward Danny Granger, who is out with a partially torn tendon in his right foot, though the Pacers have gone 6-3 without Granger.
"This team here will give us all we want," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said, adding, "Even though Granger's out, they're playing better and winning games. I think you have the tendency to think, 'Well, he's out,' and you come in and not get ready to play them."
rsiler@sltrib.com
