By GREG BEACHAM

Posted Dec 10 2009 1:12AM

LOS ANGELES(AP) Kobe Bryant scored 27 points, Pau Gasol had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers rolled off 19 consecutive points in the fourth quarter of their 10th straight victory, 101-77 over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.

Ron Artest scored 17 points for the Lakers, who improved to an NBA-best 17-3 by holding the Jazz to six points and two field goals in a comically one-sided fourth quarter.

After leading by just two points entering the fourth, Los Angeles held the Jazz scoreless for more than six minutes while getting points from five players.

Deron Williams scored 17 points for the Jazz, who couldn't manage a field goal in the first 7:25 of the final period of their 13th consecutive loss to the Lakers at Staples Center, counting six losses in the past two playoffs.

Mehmet Okur and C.J. Miles scored 14 points apiece for Utah, which managed just two field goals in the fourth quarter on 2-for-18 shooting.

Andrew Bynum scored 14 points for Los Angeles, which forced two shot clock violations by the Jazz during that fourth quarter stretch while getting eight points from Jordan Farmar, the inconsistent backup guard. Williams' jumper with 4:35 to play was the Jazz's first field goal of the period, and they didn't get another until Miles' basket in the final minute.

Carlos Boozer had 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Jazz, failing to score at least 21 points for the first time in nine games. Utah, which hasn't beaten the Lakers at Staples Center since Jan. 1, 2006, rebounded from a loss to lowly Minnesota with a win over San Antonio on Monday, but its fourth-quarter woes in Los Angeles led to just the Jazz's third loss in 11 games.

Los Angeles' winning streak is its longest in a single season since winning 10 straight in February 2008.

Bryant played after skipping the morning shootaround, telling the Lakers he was shaken up after a home-invasion robbery occurred in his family's gated community in Orange County last night, leading to a police standoff.

The Lakers are one game away from completing an undefeated six-game homestand, which concludes Friday with a visit from Minnesota. Los Angeles' lofty record is little surprise after an exceptionally generous schedule featuring 17 of its first 21 games at home, but the Lakers are on the road for all but nine of the following next 28 games.

Most of the Lakers' victories have been easy, with the notable exception of last Friday's one-point win over Miami on Bryant's self-acknowledged lucky 3-pointer at the buzzer. Coach Phil Jackson felt a few close games would help his team's late-game execution later on, and they got another test of their tenacity against Utah - until the fourth quarter, that is.

Los Angeles had been outstanding in the middle two periods during its winning streak, repeatedly pulling away from its opponents to render the fourth quarter fairly meaningless. But Utah took the lead in the second quarter and held it largely through superior offensive rebounding until late in the third, when Bryant and Lamar Odom shook the Lakers from their slumber.

NOTES: The teams meet again on Saturday in Salt Lake City. ... Longtime Lakers player and assistant coach Kurt Rambis will face the Lakers on Friday night for the first time since taking over the Timberwolves. ... Denzel Washington, Jack Black, Emmanuelle Chriqui and poker players Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth were at courtside.

Copyright 2009 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson on tonight’s game:
“That was a real burst we had in this ballgame. Great defense. Struggled for three quarters and then we kind of had a run. A big one.”

On the Lakers fourth quarter run:
“That was an amazing quarter… We were able to apply some pressure. They gave Deron a rest out there. We were able to get a little pressure on the ball and get some things happening. Subsequently got tougher shots, 24-second violations, turnovers and things happened for us. I think once that happened, it kind of just became like an avalanche.”

On what changed towards the end of the game:
“We were able to slow it down just a little bit so they weren’t moving quite as quickly as they were in the first half.”

On what sparked the big run:
“I didn’t have anything to do with motivating them in that regard. I think there’s a few things – Sasha hit a big three and kind of gave us some energy. Jordan made a couple plays that were big and gave us some energy. Those things ignited our game a little bit and the energy picked up, the crowd picked up behind it and we played to them.”

On what was going wrong and how the Lakers adjusted:
“Kobe was getting doubled. Pau had lost the ball on a double team. We just had to settle down and get back to basic basketball.”

Lakers Pau Gasol on getting the win:
“I’m happy with the win. We got more momentum in the 4th quarter and we started putting plays together and obviously the effort and the work was there so it was nice.”

On whether it was a defensive lack of intensity early in the game or a mismatch between teams that led to the Lakers taking over this game:
“Maybe a little bit of both. They came out and played well. They were getting some shots and pounding the glass really well in the 1st half and getting to the lane a little better in the second half. So once we were able to stop that, we got an advantage and made a run and put an incredible quarter together.”

Lakers’ Andrew Bynum on the difference between Lakers’ play in the 4th quarter compared to the earlier quarters:
“Defensive energy. Defensive intensity. Everybody was on the rope out there. They weren’t getting those bounce passes through and they were kind of searching for a way to score.”

On the deficit in tonight’s game earlier in the quarters:
“I think we came out and thought we were going to cruise to a win and then we saw that they were in the lead and everyone’s light turned on.”

Lakers’ Jordan Farmar on the 4th quarter; whether it was thanks to the team’s defense or the team’s level of energy:
“It’s a little bit of both. We really locked it in defensively and everybody was playing together on both ends of the floor.”

On other teams not being able to hold them down to the finish:
“We can’t get into that mentality. We have to play well while we’re out there pretty much throughout the course of the whole game. So for us it’s a lesson learned that we can and can’t turn it on. ”

Lakers Lamar Odom on the second unit in tonight’s game:
“Yeah that’s what it’s all about. Against this team you got to give the second effort. It’s the most important part. Because they kind of pack it in the paint and you have to give the second effort.”

Jazz’s Coach Jerry Sloan on tonight’s game:
“They came out and just destroyed us. We were hanging in the ball game but that just shows you what a great team they have; the ability to get up and make us turn the ball over as much as we did. I believe that was nine times in the fourth quarter. And we had a tough time getting a shot on them. We missed a couple shots then it seemed like we lost our confidence.

On the fourth quarter:
“They turned it up defensively, that is what great teams do. They have the ability to just go out there and stop you. They are a great team to start with but they are also one of the great defensive teams. That is what has made them so good.”

On Jazz’s shooting tonight:
“They were tough shots but that was the only ones we got. It seems like things just fell apart for us at the fourth quarter. You have to be able to make shots and I give them a lot of credit because of their ability to get up and take you out of what you would like to do. We did just that, we did not stay with what we had to do as far as the team is concerned to operate against them. But that is tough for a lot of teams to play against them; they will have to kick it up a notch.”

On Kobe Bryant:
“You know what type of team they have. They have a terrific team loaded with talent and you expect them to get the ball to Kobe Bryant and see what he does, so a couple of times we let them get away from us and we did not defend them the way we should have. Kobe has done that against a lot of different teams.”

On what he can take away that is positive about tonight’s performance:
“We have to learn to stay within what we are trying to do. You can’t go out and play street basketball against this team, they will annihilate you and I think some of that happened with us. We got our heads down and we kind of accepted that. That is when you have to be tougher mentally so you can stay with them.”

Utah Jazz’s player Carlos Boozer on how the game got away from them:
“They scored in the fourth quarter, we didn’t. You know, it was a two point game going into the fourth quarter; they had 28 points, we only had six.”

On Kobe’s performance tonight:
“They just hit shots. Kobe took that game over in that third quarter a little bit. We didn’t do as good enough job at helping out on him. And in that fourth quarter, that’s when that game was lost.”

On the fourth quarter:
“We shot a lot of jump shots, didn’t get the ball inside a lot, tried to mix up some plays and turned the ball over a little too much. Then on the other side, we just couldn’t make any shots. Ron hit a couple of threes; they just kept piling up on us. They scoring, we not scoring, the lead grows.”

Utah Jazz’s player Deron Williams on the measuring stick of playing the Lakers:
“Haha. Well I mean this is just a big week for us, we have [the Lakers] again on Saturday back at home. We’ve got a tough one tomorrow in Orlando so this is a good stretch for us to see where we are at.”

On the Lakers’ run in the fourth quarter:
“I don’t know what the score was when I went out, but when I came in they had already made a little run and they got into a rhythm. We just missed a lot of shots there at the end... They have one big run where they go unconscious, and they did that again tonight.”

On playing the Lakers at Staples:
“You know, it’s tough to win on the road, especially against a tough team like this.”

By MATT BEARDMORE

Posted Dec 08 2009 5:42PM

With 17 of their first 21 games at Staples Center, the Los Angeles Lakers have taken advantage of the heavy dose of home court.

With plenty of road games coming up, however, the defending champions aren't getting too excited about the early season success.

The Lakers look to win their 10th straight overall and seventh in a row at home over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night, with the teams meeting for the first time since last season's Western Conference quarterfinals.

Los Angeles improved to a league-best 16-3 and 13-2 at home with a 108-88 victory over Phoenix on Sunday. The Pacific Division-leading Lakers have played the most home games in the league.

"No partying at all,'' forward Pau Gasol said after scoring 14 points in the Lakers' eighth straight win in Los Angeles. "We understand we have so many home games together. I want to see us do this on the road in tougher situations against teams that are ready to play.

"Right now we're in good shape, but we've still got a long way to go."

Following the end of a six-game homestand Friday, Los Angeles plays 19 of 28 on the road, beginning with a Saturday night matchup in Salt Lake City.

With Utah making the first of two visits to Staples Center to face the Lakers, Los Angeles goes for its first 10-game winning streak in a season since Feb. 8-28, 2008. The Lakers won their final four games of 2007-08 and the first seven last season.

The Lakers defeated the Jazz in five games in the 2009 conference quarterfinals, with Kobe Bryant scoring 31 points and Lamar Odom adding 26 and 15 rebounds in the decisive contest, a 107-96 victory at Staples on April 27.

Including the postseason, the Lakers have won 12 straight at home over Utah since a 98-94 loss Jan. 1, 2006 - a game in which Bryant was suspended.

Utah (12-8), winner of eight of 10, will look for a better result at Staples Center after beating San Antonio 104-101 on Monday.

Deron Williams missed his first six shots, but finished 8 of 16 from the field and scored 17 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 22 seconds remaining.

"I missed a couple of shots early so in the second half I just came out and played,'' said Williams, who was 5 of 5 in the third quarter when the Jazz outscored the Spurs 37-19.

After averaging 22.0 points and 12.0 assists in three regular-season games versus the Lakers last season, Williams scored 20.2 points per game with 10.8 assists in the playoff series.

Carlos Boozer, the reigning Western Conference player of the week after averaging 22.8 points and 12.0 rebounds in four games, scored 27 points against the Spurs. He averaged 20.6 points and 13.2 boards against the Lakers in the playoffs after missing two of the regular-season matchups due to injuries.

Copyright 2009 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Luke Walton (pinched nerve, back) is out.

Kyrylo Fesenko – GAMETIME DECISION (stomach virus)
Matt Harpring – NOT WITH TEAM (ankle, knee)
Andrei Kirilenko – GAMETIME DECISION (lower back strain)
Kyle Korver – OUT (left knee surgery)
Ronnie Price – OUT (sprained left big toe)

SEASON & SERIES NOTES; CONNECTIONS
The Lakers took last season’s series from the Jazz for the third consecutive season, going 2-1 in their three meetings. The Jazz and Lakers have now met 146 times in the regular season (93-53) and 128 times since the Jazz moved to Utah (80-48). In the postseason, the Lakers have split four series with the Jazz, winning the 2008 Western Conference Semifinals 4-2 and the 2009 Western Conference First Round 4-1. The Lakers are 7-3 in their last 10 regular season games with the Jazz. The Lakers are 16- 3 all-time against the Jazz at STAPLES Center during the regular season and have won their last six straight (12 in a row including the playoffs). In Utah, the Lakers have gone 3-7 in their last 10 regular season games at EnergySolutions Arena. Under head coach Phil Jackson, the Lakers are 23-11 against Utah in the regular season. In 2006, the Lakers scored a series record 132 points in a 132-102 victory over the Jazz 11/30/06 at STAPLES Center, improving upon the old mark of 131 points achieved at Utah on December 4, 1986. Additionally, in that game, Kobe Bryant established a new series-high with 52 points against the Jazz, surpassing his own record of 43 points (3/22/05) while also bettering Adrian Dantley’s Jazz mark of 50 established in November of 1979. Bryant’s 30-point 3rd quarter tied his own franchise record and is tied for the 4th-highest scoring quarter in NBA history. In 43 games against the Jazz (35 starts), Bryant is averaging 26.4 points. In their meeting on 12/28/07 Bryant scored his 1,000th career point against the Jazz and is averaging 32.6 points (326) against Utah over the last three regular seasons (10 games including ‘08-09). Additionally, Lakers guard Derek Fisher played the 2006-07 season for Utah, appearing in all 82 games, starting 61 and averaging 10.1 points and 3.3 assists in 27.9 minutes.

GOING STREAKING
With their victory over the Suns December 6th, the Lakers won for the 9th straight time, further surpassing their longest win streak from a season ago when the Lakers strung together 7-straight victories on three occasions, most recently from 1/30/09 – 2/10/09. The Lakers last won 10 straight games during a string of 10 consecutive victories from 2/8/08 – 2/28/08 during the 2007-08 campaign. To date, the Lakers have posted 23 10+ game win streaks in franchise history (19 in Los Angeles, four in Minneapolis). The Lakers last won 11-game win streak came during the 2003-04 season from March 13 – April 2, 2004.

JUST ADD GASOL
Since Pau Gasol made his season debut 11/19 vs. Chicago, the Lakers are 8-0 while defeating teams by an average of 15.6 points per game (125). Additionally, with Gasol’s return, all five starters have scored in double-figures three times whereas in the previous 11 games without him in the lineup, not once did that occur. In games played without Gasol since he joined the Lakers, Los Angeles is 15-7 overall (6-4 in 2007-08, 1-0 in 2008-09 and 8-3 in 2009-10). With Gasol in the lineup, the Lakers are 94-22 (.810) in the regular season since he joined the team in February of 2008 (22-5 in 2007-08, 64-17 in 2008-09 and 8-0 in 2009-10) and 30-14 (.682) in the playoffs.

WITH LAKERS, IT’S HOW YOU START
Through 19 games this season, the Lakers currently hold the best record in the NBA at 16-3 while ranking in the league’s top 10 in scoring (6th/104.6 ppg) and defense (8th/96.3 ppg). Last season, the Lakers finished 3rd in scoring offense and 13th in scoring defense, winning by an average margin of 7.6 points per game. This season, the Lakers are defeating teams by an average of 8.3 points per game, but it’s how they’re getting to that point that is different from seasons past. Through three quarters, this year’s edition of the Lakers is more dominant than the 2009 Championship team, averaging a 10.8 point lead entering the fourth quarter in comparison to last season’s 6.4 point lead through three periods. On average, the Lakers are jumping out to an 8.3 point lead at the half this year in contrast to a 3.2 point lead a year ago. In the second half, the Lakers are being outscored by 0.2 points whereas a year ago, Los Angeles outscored its opponents by another 4.4 points in the final two quarters. Overall, the Lakers most dominant quarter is the opening period, where Los Angeles is outscoring its opponents this season by a 5.7 point margin.

WIRE-TO-WIRE
With their 108-88 victory over Phoenix December 6th, the Lakers posted their 3rd wire-to-wire victory of the season. The Lakers recorded their first wire-to-wire victory of the year with a 104-88 win 11/8 vs. NO and their second with a 130-97 win 11/28 @ GS. Last season, the Lakers claimed nine wire-to-wire victories (games in which they never trailed) during the regular season, tied for 3rd most in the league (Phoenix) behind Cleveland (14) and Orlando (13). The Lakers also won in wire-to-wire fashion twice during the 2009 Playoffs (4/29 vs. Utah and 5/17 vs. Houston). Additionally, the Lakers were one of only two teams last season (Cleveland) to never lose in wire-to- wire fashion during the regular season. In the playoffs, however, the Lakers played two games in which they never led, falling twice to Houston in the Conference Semifinals (5/10/09 at HOU and 5/14/09 at HOU). In the regular season, the Lakers have not lost in wire-to-wire fashion since 1/17/08 vs. PHX.

BRYANT MOVES PAST ABDUL-JABBAR ON LAKERS ALL-TIME FRANCHISE SCORING LIST
With his free throw at the 6:07 mark of the third quarter November 19th vs. Chicago, Kobe Bryant moved past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (24,176) for 2nd on the Lakers all-time franchise scoring list. While only Jerry West (25,192) has scored more points with the Lakers than Bryant (24,369), at his current scoring average (28.9 ppg), Bryant would surpass West approximately 29 games from now 1/31/10 at Boston. Earlier this month, with 41 points November 6th against Memphis, Bryant moved past Allen Iverson (24,031) for 16th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Bryant has been steadily moving up the list the last few years and last season alone, moved past Charles Barkley (23,757) for 17th, Robert Parish (23,334) for 18th, Adrian Dantley (23,177) for 19th, Elgin Baylor (23,149) for 20th, Clyde Drexler (22,195) for 21st, Gary Payton (21,813) for 22nd and Larry Bird (21,791) for 23rd. Next on the NBA’s all-time list ahead of Bryant (24,369) are Patrick Ewing (24,815) and Jerry West (25,192).

JACKSON PASSES LARRY BROWN FOR 5th ON THE ALL-TIME COACHING VICTORIES LIST
A season after earning his record 10th NBA Championship as a head coach, Phil Jackson (1,057) moved past Charlotte Bobcats head coach Larry Brown (1,052) for 5th on the NBA’s all-time coaching win list with a victory over the Detroit Pistons on November 17th. The only coach in league history to win better than 70 percent of his games (.707), Jackson ranks 12th in all-time regular season games coached and 1st in playoff games coached (300), won (209) and playoff winning percentage (.697). Last season, Jackson became the fastest coach in NBA history to reach 1,000 career victories, needing 1,423 games to reach the mark. Earning induction in his first year of consideration, on September 7, 2007, Jackson was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Only Jerry Sloan (4th), Pat Riley (3rd), Don Nelson (2nd) and Lenny Wilkens (1st) have more career victories than Brown and Jackson while of the top six, Jackson has coached 1,000+ fewer games than Wilkens, 800+ fewer games than Nelson, nearly 500 fewer games than Riley and roughly 400 fewer games than Sloan and Brown.