"Mehmet Okur couldn't stay for Saturday's game against the Lakers, but the injured Jazz center paid his first visit to see his teammates since suffering a ruptured left Achilles' tendon April 17 in the playoff opener at Denver.

After being fitted for a walking boot this week, Okur was getting around without crutches before the game. He pronounced himself pain free and was in good spirits three weeks after the devastating injury.

"I just can't go back and think about what happened," Okur said. "I got to look forward to getting healed and getting better. The good thing about this injury, I have more time hanging out with the kids and family because I've got nothing else going on."

Okur said he was told it would take about six months to return following the injury and resulting surgery. His goal is to be back for the Jazz's season opener this fall, though he might miss training camp and/or the preseason.

"It's hard to tell you what's going to happen, what we're going to do, how am I going to feel in the future," Okur said. "Hopefully, the first game."

Okur had been battling soreness in his Achilles' tendon in the final weeks of the regular season -- sitting out an April 9 game at New Orleans -- and received a numbing injection prior to Game 1 against Denver.

In hindsight, Okur said the injection and injury were not connected. The injection was made not into the Achilles', Okur said, but the surrounding area in his heel."