Carlos Boozer played basketball, real basketball, for the first time since October on Wednesday, and though it was only four minutes of a full-court scrimmage with his teammates, it represents the first real step forward in his condition since he first felt pain in his left hamstring. In other words: no tweaks.

"My leg feels really good. It's felt the best to me since I pulled it," Boozer said after a one-hour practice full of conditioning drills and running, playbook refreshers, some halfcourt run-throughs, and finally, his first competition since he strained the hamstring Oct. 8. "To be honest, I wasn't hesitant or worried about it. I warmed up really well, I did things at a little slower pace [in warmups], but once I was out there, I felt great."

His coach, on the other hand, was "scared to death," despite all the bandages and tape and compression shorts around Boozer's legs.

"We've been slapped in the face a few times," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, speaking of Boozer's three setbacks, which have kept him out of uniform for the entire season. "We tried to have a little contact so we could see him run up and down the floor."

It's just one hurdle, but a major one. If his leg still feels OK this morning, he will take part in another practice. If all is still well, Friday morning's shootaround is the next test. And an hour before tipoff in Minneapolis, the Jazz will make a decision: Whether Boozer is ready to take part in an NBA game for the first time in 361 days.

"I think we're all excited about having him back," said veteran center Jarron Collins. "Having seen all he has gone through to get back to this point, you can't help but be happy for him."

His debut will amount to about five minutes, Sloan said, enough to allow him to get a feel for the game while the Jazz go about trying to beat the Timberwolves and cement their second-place standing in the Northwest Division. The coach has already envisioned a temporary second unit of Matt Harpring, Greg Ostertag and Boozer. "That will give us a little different look on the front line," Sloan said. "If we go that way for five minutes, maybe that keeps [Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur] fresh late in the game."