The Deseret News (Tim Buckley) reports: When the season started, the plan was to bring versatile Andrei Kirilenko off the bench but perhaps play him what amounts to starter minutes. But it hasn’t exactly gone that way in the 12 games Kirilenko has played since returning from January ankle surgery. Before surgery, partly because various teammates were injured, Kirilenko played 30 minutes or more in 22 of 38 games — including one regulation-length game with 42, and 50 in a double-overtime loss at Houston. Since then, he hasn’t played more than 26 minutes. He’s often used almost exclusively now in the second and fourth quarters, and isn’t subbing in for center Mehmet Okur like at times previously. Sloan said the forward from Russia no longer is on restricted minutes, and the coach believes he’s fully healthy.
