"In the minutes before Tuesday morning's practice, Andrei Kirilenko isolated himself to a corner basket, shooting jumpers with Jeff Hornacek.

His stroke looked smooth. Confident. Like every shot was meant to go in. Kind of like his performance in Monday night's win over the Detroit Pistons.

It was Kirilenko's second game back for the Utah Jazz after missing time with a balky back. And it went much better than his return on Saturday against the Memphis Grizzlies.

"I felt much better," Kirilenko said. "I was much stronger and I was able to get a flow. It was a good game for me."

And good for the Jazz as well. Against the Pistons, Kirilenko scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting. He made all four of his free-throw attempts, grabbed three rebounds and was a plus-13 in his 35 minutes on the floor.

Most importantly, he anchored the second unit when the Jazz made a big run in the second quarter. He looked much more active than he did on Saturday, when he scored a mere four points in 18 minutes and looked hesitant with every move he made on the court.

"It was good for Andrei to get back into things," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "I think it just took a little time for him to find his rhythm. When you miss time due to injury, sometimes it can take a little bit to get your timing back. He looked much better last night.""