Though several walking wounded were at the training facility for treatment and light workouts, Paul Millsap, Deron Williams, Matt Harpring, Mehmet Okur, Carlos Boozer and Jarron Collins did not participate in the Christmas Eve practice session for various reasons.

That left Jerry Sloan with as many available healthy bodies as Santa had reindeer -- including Rudolph, of course -- for his late-night whirlwind worldwide tour on Wednesday night. The Jazz coach admitted at his Christmas Eve practice that he's concerned about his team's unstable health that has led to Utah players missing 90 player-games so far this season.

"I'm worried about injuries," Sloan said. "I probably should forget about it because when it rains it pours, but you've got to play through that."

The latest injury happened to one of his favorite, hard-working elves aka Millsap -- the power forward who has endeared himself to Sloan because he's never missed a game in his NBA career (194 straight) and because he often plays through plenty of pain. Millsap did that again Tuesday after hyperextending his left knee and leaving in agony while scaring the dickens out of the Jazz in the first quarter.

"We need him," C.J. Miles said. "It was scary."

"I was nervous," Williams added.

Millsap did not practice Wednesday and was scheduled to undergo an MRI on his knee, which he said popped in Tuesday's game. After X-rays at the arena came out negative, Millsap returned to play the entire second half and nearly extended his 15-game double-double streak, which came to an end with a gutsy 11-point, nine-rebound outing.

Because of the Christmas holiday, the Jazz aren't expecting his results to be available until Friday morning. In the meantime, Millsap is being listed as "questionable" for that night's game against the Dallas Mavericks, according to a team spokesperson.

As for Williams, the point guard who missed 13 games with a severely sprained left ankle said his strained right calf muscle is "feeling all right" on Wednesday. He talked to reporters while riding a stationary bicycle, but he did not practice and is "probable" for Friday.

"We've got three days to rest and hope to heal a little bit," Williams said. "That's all I can hope for."

Okur was also at the training facility -- for some running and shooting but no all-out scrimmaging -- after the Jazz returned from their 10-day Eastern road swing in which they went 2-3. He sat out Tuesday's game with lower-back muscle spasms but said he is getting "better."

Due to the tightness, Okur said he sat out the game because he was worried the injury would've worsened and forced him to miss more games.

Okur predicted that "probably I'm going to be out there Friday."

"You can't do anything about injuries," he added. "It just happens. It's hard to control it."

While Harpring is a "go" against the Mavericks, a team spokesperson said the backup small forward was headed East for the mini-Christmas break to get an MRI on his surgically repaired right ankle that became infected this past summer. He scheduled a consultation with a doctor in North Carolina, who was recommended to him by a surgeon who performed surgery on his ankle.

Boozer (strained left quad and bruised kneecap) and Jarron Collins (inflamed right elbow) also did not practice and are still unable to play. E-mail: jody@desnews.com