"The manner in which Al Jefferson injured himself in the fourth quarter Monday somewhat symbolized what happened to the entire Utah Jazz at the Verizon Center.

After dunking the ball while getting hit, Big Al lost his legs from underneath him and fell hard on his backside and suffered some serious pain in the, um, process.

"That's why I don't like dunking," Jefferson said. "But I've just got to bounce back. I deal with them type of injuries every day."

The 6-foot-10 center remained on the court for a couple of minutes before returning to action after a timeout.

"I fell on my buttocks," Jefferson said. "It's sore. I'm probably going to feel it more in the morning."

The Jazz might, too, if they contemplate their painful fall in a 108-101 loss to the Washington Wizards.

Jefferson bounced back quite strong from his tumble. He quickly hit a jumper, blocked a shot, turned an inside move into a three-point play and scored seven of his 25 points in the final six minutes after the injury.

"It's a lot of shooting pain going through your body," Jefferson said, "but in due time it will go away. . . . Thirty, 40 seconds later, it kind of went away and I was able to continue to go."

It's uncertain whether Jefferson will practice today in New Jersey, where the team flew after Monday's setback. But he plans on suiting up for Wednesday night's game against the Nets."