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On the list of their charitable efforts during the NBA season, the Jazz's annual holiday visit with hospitalized children and their families is one of the most rewarding and heartbreaking for coach Tyrone Corbin.
"I always have mixed emotions," he said, "because I hate seeing little kids sick. Seeing tubes and stuff stuck on them, it's a little tough to take. It's a good thing to do … [but] it's always been a bittersweet thing for me."
Jazz players, coaches and staff members visited Primary Children's Hospital and Shriners Hospitals for Children on Tuesday afternoon. They also stopped at the Veteran's Administration hospital.
The rewarding aspect of the visits hits home for Corbin when he talks to hospital staff members.
"It's a little thing," he said, "but to hear from the nurses or the doctors that a kid who hasn't smiled in a long time smiles when the players walk in, it means something. …
"We tell our guys: 'You may think it's a little thing, but you don't know the impact you have on lives just by meeting someone or joking around with them.' That's what it should be about, man, sharing your blessings with others.
Burke effect
Rookie point guard Trey Burke continues to have a major impact on the Jazz.
Burke averages 12.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists since returning from a fractured finger that sidelined him for the first 12 games of the season.
The Jazz are 3-2 in Burke's five starts, and he finished with 21 points and a team-high six assists in Monday night's 109-103 win over Houston.
When the Jazz traded up in last summer's draft to get Burke with the No. 9 pick, general manager Dennis Lindsey credited Corbin for targeting him.
With Burke playing so well, however, Corbin deflected the praise to Lindsey, vice president of basketball operations Kevin O'Connor and vice president of player personnel Walt Perrin, among others.
"I appreciate [that] comment," Corbin said. "But Dennis and his group — Kevin and Walt and those guys — they do a great job of figuring out what's best for this franchise. … They do it all year long — finding guys and figuring out where they rank."
What was Corbin's role in trading up to get Burke?
"I knew we needed a point guard — a young point guard to grow with this group," he said with a shrug. "Trey was ranked one of the best guys [in the draft], if not the best."
Williams, Evan questionable
Forwards Marvin Williams and Jeremy Evans missed practice Tuesday morning and their availability against Indiana on Wednesday night will be a game-time decision.
Williams has a sore right heel, which was surgically repaired last summer. Evans has a stomach ailment.
Against Houston, Williams scored five of his 10 points in the final two minutes, including a steal-and-dunk that made it 103-98 and a clinching 3-pointer that have the Jazz a 108-100 lead.
Corbin had a young lineup on the floor down the stretch, including Alec Burks, Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward, Burke and Williams.
"Just playing together and making the right plays," Corbin said about the Jazz's effectiveness at crunch time. "I don't think they go out with an idea of who's going to make the play. It's just making the right play by whoever is in the right spot."