Mehmet Okur returned to the Jazz on Monday after flying to Turkey last week to visit his ailing father, but the forward missed Monday's game with a bad back.

Okur's strained lower back was aggravated by the 15-hour trip back to the United States.

"My heart is with them right now," said Okur, whose father has undergone surgery to remove a part of his lung and a brain tumor in the last five years.

"Life still go on," Okur added, "and I've got to look forward and just pray for him and hopefully everything's going to be all right."