The Orange County Register

(MCT)

SALT LAKE CITY - It's not often the Lakers lose. When they do, invariably they notice their defense can still be much better.

The Utah Jazz shot 58.6 percent from the field Wednesday night, the best any team has done against the Lakers all season, and snapped the Lakers' seven-game winning streak with a 113-109 decision.

"Our real problem tonight was we gave them too many good looks," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

The Lakers took turns letting each other down in team-defense situations. Utah point guard Deron

Williams shredded the Lakers for 31 points on 12-of-17 shooting with 11 assists.

It left the Lakers on a down note entering the All-Star break, which Jackson advised the players to use as a "release."

"Just stay away from basketball for a couple days," he said.

Perhaps the lure of some relaxation on the horizon contributed to the Lakers' sub-par effort.

Factoring in the fatigue of their eighth game in a different city over a 14-day span and Utah's added motivation from its ouster at the Lakers' hands last postseason, this game loomed in advance as a trouble spot for the Lakers.

Jackson brought the players out of their hotel rooms for a shootaround workout on game day in hopes of activating their bodies.

But Pau Gasol, in particular, lacked action after tip-off and had 16 points to go with three rebounds and two assists. He had no blocked shots, and injured Andrew Bynum was certainly missed as a defensive presence in the paint.

"We didn't play our best game," Gasol said.

Kobe Bryant (37 points) kept pushing the Lakers back despite Utah's 101-92 lead with 5:15 to play.

Bryant didn't have his best game either, but he hit a 3-pointer with 1:36 left for a 105-104 Lakers lead. He missed his next two 3-point shots, however, and Derek Fisher missed two 3-point shots in the final seconds with the Lakers trailing, 112-109.

Utah was playing without injured Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko, but C.J Miles (17 points) and

Ronnie Brewer (16 points) took advantage of the Lakers' lax defense to produce more than usual.

Jackson tried to help the Lakers look forward by writing on the locker-room board their current league-best record - 42-10 - and the fact that there are "30 more" regular-season games.

Lamar Odom posted a season high in rebounds for the third consecutive game, this time collecting 19 of the Lakers' 39. He also had 19 points and said the bone bruise on his right knee, which cost Odom three games in January, has improved to the point that he called himself "pain free."

Odom landed on his back on one play and got the wind knocked out of him, he said. Odom said he thought the Lakers - himself included - were too caught up in disputing calls by referees Ron Garretson, John Goble and Rodney Mott that went in Utah's favor.