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JAZZ: Whistle-stopped: Winning ways end with Kobe's trips to foul line

It's a fragile thing, this talent for winning that the Jazz have flaunted a bit lately. The miracle threes, the critical rebounds, all those pick-and-rolls that seem so unstoppable during the hot streaks - really, one little bump, one minor glitch, can bring it all tumbling down.

Or, in the case of Monday's exasperating 102-94 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, the shrill shriek of a referee's whistle.

The Jazz made good on their promise to sic an aggressive defense on Kobe Bryant, but the game's consummate scorer simply adapted by accepting, or even forcing, contact and doing his damage from the free-throw line.

Kobe Bryant tried 19 foul shots in the first half, more than any opponent in Jazz vs. Los Angeles Lakers the Jazz's 33-year history. Five more free throws in the second half tied the franchise record of 24 for a game. And by making 21 of those freebies, Kobe Bryant could shrug off a 7-for-21 shooting night, having piled up 35 points anyway.

"He's so clever," marveled Jazz guard Derek Fisher, who witnessed plenty of this sort of adaptability during his seven seasons as Kobe Bryant's Laker teammate. "You can't tell someone to [guard] him a certain way. He's smart enough to see how [you're] doing it and go another way."

The Jazz, appearing terribly vulnerable despite their eight-wins-in-nine-games roll, needed a little of that flexibility in the final six minutes. But Deron Williams was in pinstripes, his

nagging groin injury having flared up

again. Carlos Boozer was playing with doctor-imposed limitations on his healing right leg, and Andrei Kirilenko appeared tentative trying to cope with a sore left knee.

And Mehmet Okur? Let's just say Jazz fans everywhere shared the pain of his bad back.

Okur made only three of 19 shots, and two of the baskets were a dunk and a layup. A Jazz offense increasingly addicted to the Turk's bedlam-triggering three-pointers starved while Okur, who had not played in six days, battled his faulty aim.

Given all that, not to mention three technical fouls imposed by officials who didn't want to hear the Jazz's opinions about Kobe Bryant's free throws, perhaps the 82-82 tie with 4:42 to play was victory enough. But Utah has gotten hooked on owning these sort of close games, so what happened next, however predictable for the debilitated home team, still came as a letdown.

"I thought we were doing good enough," Kirilenko said. "We know how to win."

Yeah, usually. But usually they don't shoot four airballs in the fourth quarter.

The Los Angeles Lakers reacted to the tie game by converting on nine of their remaining 11 possessions - only three times courtesy of Kobe Bryant. He had the most memorable bucket, naturally - a swooping jam to follow Lamar Odom's missed layup - but got the sort of all-for-one help that the Jazz couldn't muster.

Smush Parker supplemented his leader by nailing a three (giving him an out-of-character 24 points), Odom hit an open jumper and four free throws, and Maurice Evans, suffering through a 2-for-11 night of his own, swished a three as well.

"Smush Parker, to go 6-for-8 [on three-pointers], I don't know the last time he shoots like that," said Gordan Giricek, shaking his head.

With that kind of pressure being applied at the other end, the Jazz needed to be perfect in order to have a chance. They weren't close.

"It's not easy, and in particular when you can't stop the other team, If you're essentially trading baskets, you'll never" pull ahead, Fisher said of the Jazz's final four minutes, which included baskets on only three of their last 11 possessions. "It hard to win when you have to score on every single possession."

Fisher did his best, helping the Jazz close a nine-point deficit to just two points with 20 seconds left by hitting a four-point play and another three-pointer. But - as if cementing the night's themes - Laker free throws and Okur misfires ended the Jazz's hopes.

Okur was clearly rusty, a couple of his teammates alibied, but Odom's defense might have had something to do with it too. "Lamar is pretty long on him, and close enough to be a good defender, so [Okur] doesn't get many open looks," L.A. coach Phil Jackson said. "Still, for him to go 3-for-19 is remarkable."

True enough, but so is Kobe Bryant's 7-for-21 night.

"We did OK. We cut his percentage," Giricek said. "We did as good as we can, but you can't fight how many times he gets free throws. That's why he is superstar."

And that's why the Jazz are, for a moment anyway, no longer a fourth-quarter juggernaut.

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