The Utah Jazz watched the film of their Game 1 loss to the Rockets and concluded there was no reason to cry.

Except for Andrei Kirilenko.

The longer he sat in a chair following Sunday's workout and patiently answered every question, the harder it became for him to control and conceal his emotions. That sharp, angular face became softer. Those eyes as dark as a Russian winter turned redder than the flag of the former Soviet Union.

Cause for tears

Eventually, there were tears as the 6-9 forward tried to explain and understand how it was that he spent the final 17:03 of the Jazz's 84-75 loss on the bench rather than helping his team. While Tracy McGrady scored 10 of his 16 third-quarter points in the last four minutes of the period and the Rockets turned the game on its head, all Kirilenko could do was watch.

"He (McGrady) is a great player, everybody knows that," Kirilenko said. "Off him, on him, I think I can be a much better contributor on the floor. I think I can be valuable — on the court."

Kirilenko finished with just two points on 1-of-3 shooting in a hair under 16 minutes, and that was the problem on a night when Carlos Boozer shot 4-for-17, Mehmet Okur 2-for-14 and the Jazz managed only 11 points in the third quarter.

"He was missing shots, not making shots," said Utah head coach Jerry Sloan. "They were dropping off him and not even guarding him when he was on the floor. So what am I giving up?"

It was one night that encapsulated Kirilenko's entire season. With Boozer finally healthy and able to perform for the first time in three years, Okur providing offense in the middle and second-year point guard Deron Williams establishing himself, Kirilenko is no longer the focal point of the Jazz offense. His minutes have dropped from 37.7 a year ago to 29.3 this season. Just two seasons ago, he averaged 15.7 points a game. This year, he was down to 8.3. His shot attempts have plunged from 931 in 2003-04 to a career-low 418 this season.

At the same time, the Jazz have improved from a 26-56 record in 2004-05 to 51-31 and returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

"I'll find the time today to talk to him one-on-one and see how he's feeling," said veteran guard Derek Fisher. "Andrei's an important part of this team. A few years ago, for all intents and purposes, everything was going to be built around him. He was the franchise guy. I can't imagine how tough it has been to try and make that transition as talented players have joined the team over the last few years. I think it kind of left him in limbo a little bit as to what his role is."

Kirilenko shrugged.

"I don't know what I can do about it," he said.

To Sloan, as with most things, it's quite simple.

"You can tell guys they've got to play," he said. "That's up to them. They have to go play. I can't handle that stuff for them.

"I'm not trying to hurt anybody's feelings or anything. My job is to win. And the way you do that is to have everybody play hard and play well.

"There's not a guy alive, if he helps me win, I don't care if he likes me or I like him or not. I like one thing and that's to win. I don't like the taste of defeat. Never have.

"But if it's a responsibility I have, I'll try to do a little better. I'll try to work a little bit harder, rather than feeling sorry for myself."

Loss of spark

Kirilenko is confused, disappointed and simply lost. He says he doesn't want to be merely a defensive specialist. But he feels squeezed out of the offense, and that has led to a loss of spark, of energy, and less of him zooming around the floor making athletic plays at both ends.

"You can't get all of your offense back (fast) after the season I had," he said. "I want to play. I want to be on the court. I feel like I can help much more."

The head coach looked across the floor at Kirilenko, who had his head down, losing the fight to the tears.

"Heaven only knows how badly we need him," Sloan said.

fran.blinebury@chron.com