The Utah Jazz’s Tuesday night game against the Los Angeles Lakes will not see Andrei Kirilenko. This is Game 2 of the semifinal series for the Utah Western Conference.

Forward Andrei Kirilenko has been out of full play since March 12 when he strained the calf on his left leg. Last month, he created some aggravation to his injured left calf, which slowed his recovery a bit.

He has initially been listed as “50-50” for Game 2 of the Utah Western Conference and attended a complete practice on Monday and participated in the shoot around on Tuesday morning. He stated that he didn’t really experience pain in his calf, rather he felt some strength regaining in the muscle.

Coach Jerry Sloan felt that Kirilenko needed Game 2 off to ensure that he was able to fully recover from his injury and not aggravate it again as he did last month. Sloan says that Kirilenko will return on the lineup for Game 3 of the semifinal series after he has a full three days off for recovery. Game 3 will be in Utah on Saturday so provided that Kirilenko can keep his calf and further injury under control, he should be in the game.

However, if Kirilenko does come back to the lineup for Game 3, will he be any good? He has been off for quite some time and has only played in 22 of the last 24 games with the Utah Jazz. He definitely has some momentum to build back up.

Concerning the Los Angeles Lakers, center Andrew Bynum who has been out for a knee injury will be playing in the Utah Western Conference for Game 2. Bynum did not participate in Game 1 of the Conference semifinal series but only played for a mere 24 minutes. LA Lakes Coach anticipates longer playtime for Bynum for Game 2 Tuesday night.

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