Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan refused to blame the continued absence of point guard Deron Williams for his team's poor performance in its last game. The loss of another starter, however, might not bode well for a return to form.

The Jazz seek to overcome the loss of center Mehmet Okur as they try to bounce back from their first defeat by visiting the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.

Williams sprained his left ankle in a preseason game Oct. 18, and hasn't played yet this season. He's expected to miss at least two more weeks with the injury.

Despite his absence, the Jazz (5-1) won their first five games before a 107-99 loss to New York on Sunday. As impressive as they looked during their undefeated start, they committed a season-high 22 turnovers that led to 30 Knicks points in the defeat.

"We didn't do a good job of taking care of the ball," said All-Star forward Carlos Boozer, who had 19 points and 17 rebounds. "It's our first loss and hopefully we can learn from this and move forward."

Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni noted the absence of Williams, but Sloan wasn't making excuses.

"Can't worry about that," Sloan said. "Nobody wants to hear about that. I don't want to hear it, either. Deron Williams is a wonderful player. We'd love to have him back two weeks ago, but he's not here. That doesn't mean you just go out trying to throw the ball away."

Utah could be in even worse shape Tuesday. Okur has left the club to return to his home country of Turkey to deal with an illness in his family. The Jazz said Monday they've excused their second-leading scorer - averaging 15.5 points per game - so he can be with his family. No other details were released.

Okur will surely be missed against a 76ers team that lured All-Star power forward Elton Brand away from the Los Angeles Clippers in the offseason with a five-year, $82 million contract, a move that figured to make Philadelphia an instant contender in the Eastern Conference.

The 76ers (2-4), however, have been underwhelming in the season's first two weeks.

In a brief two-game road trip to Florida, the Sixers lost by 23 points to Miami before suffering a 98-88 defeat to Orlando on Thursday night. The Magic consistently hounded Brand with double teams, and the Sixers failed to capitalize on their open looks from the perimeter, shooting 37.9 percent - their third game under 40 percent from the field this season.

"I think we are still learning how to play with (Brand)," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "As time moves on, we will do a much better job of playing off the double. Again, we have to make shots to make teams pay for the double team."

Like Cheeks, Brand sounded confident that Philadelphia's adjustment period is nearing an end.

"We just have to move the ball and make them pay," said Brand, averaging a career-low 14.7 points. "Once we start making shots then they'll have to pick their poison."

Brand hopes the shots start falling as he tries to help the Sixers win in Utah for just the third time in 20 years. Philadelphia is 2-17 in Salt Lake City since the 1988-89 season, and has lost 28 of 35 overall in the series.

Utah's Kyle Korver will be playing in Philadelphia as a visitor for the first time in his career. The sharpshooting forward played his first four-plus NBA seasons for the Sixers before being traded to the Jazz last December.