Lakers squeak past Jazz, 113-110

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pardon Phil Jackson’s lack of enthusiasm for how the Los Angeles Lakers played in the second half.

They piled up 62 points on Utah in the first half, then got outscored over the final 24 minutes.

“It wasn’t a coach’s delight, that’s for sure,” he said.

But his players sure liked the outcome, a 113-100 victory over the Jazz in the teams’ playoff opener Sunday.

Kobe Bryant scored 24 points, Trevor Ariza added 21 and Pau Gasol 20 as the Lakers pretty much had their way against the eighth-seeded Jazz. They led by 22 points at halftime and then answered resoundingly both times Utah got within nine in the second half.

“They kept knocking on the door and we just never let them in,” Bryant said.

Allowing a Phil Jackson-coached team to win Game 1 of any series doesn’t bode well for the opposition. Jackson’s teams have never lost a playoff series after winning Game 1, going 41-for-41 with Chicago and the Lakers.

“We had a very difficult time,” Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. “We gave up 62 points in the first half and it’s virtually impossible to beat this team giving them an edge.”

Carlos Boozer led the Jazz with 27 points and Deron Williams added 16 points and a career playoff-high 17 assists. Both were in foul trouble, with Boozer getting his third just before halftime when Williams already had two.

“I didn’t shoot the ball too well,” Williams said. “I did a good job getting in the lane and distributing the basketball, I just couldn’t finish.”

The Jazz sorely missed Mehmet Okur, who sat out with a mild right hamstring strain. He averages 17 points and 7.5 rebounds and gives Utah a much-needed inside presence against the Lakers’ twin 7-footers, Andrew Bynum and Gasol.

Bynum had seven points and three rebounds playing in foul trouble most of the game.

Sloan questioned his young team’s toughness, a trait Utah has rarely lacked during the Hall of Fame coach’s tenure.

“We’re not a nasty team,” Sloan said. “Most of the teams that we’ve had here have been pretty nasty and they will get after you from daylight to dark. We’re just learning how to get after it a little bit more as we go along with younger guys. Part of that’s my fault. I probably haven’t been nasty enough with them.”

Bryant wasn’t buying Sloan’s assessment.

“I’m a game connoisseur, so I know how nasty Sloan was when he was playing,” he said. “Pardon my French, but your [rear] would be kicked out of the league if you played that physical now. I’m sure he’s using it as a motivational tool to get those guys to play even harder.”