Curtis Borchardt has discarded his crutches, which is a positive sign. He is beginning to get muscle tone back in his legs, which is encouraging. And X-rays of his right foot show the bone is definitely healing, which is great news.
   
But the most promising indication that the injured Jazz rookie can recover from a bone that has broken three times in four years and still enjoy a successful NBA career doesn't involve Borchardt at all. That indication wears a Cavaliers uniform and will face the Jazz tonight in the Delta Center.
   
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cleveland's 7-foot-3 Lithuanian center, has appeared in all but one Cav game this season and is averaging 31 minutes a game -- a stretch of basketball health that seemed impossible just a couple of years ago.
   
"The last time he broke his [left] foot, he was just about at the end of his rope," said Jazz trainer Gary Briggs, who filled the same job with the Cavs until 2000 and worked with Ilgauskas during four frustrating, injury-filled seasons. "He told me he would go full bore one more time, but he said, 'If it happens again, I'm done.' "