SALT LAKE CITY -- Well, well, well.
Right about the time the Lakers were supposed to be sinking toward the lower part of the Western Conference playoff race -- no Pau Gasol + no Andrew Bynum = nothing but trouble, allegedly -- they unfurled yet another victory, on the road, in front of a keyed-up crowd.
All they did was beat the Utah Jazz, owner of the league's best home record, with a spirited and efficient endeavor that gave them a richly deserved 106-95 victory Thursday at Energy Solutions Arena.
An added surprise, one of many on a four-game road trip that was supposed to crumble after Gasol sustained a sprained ankle early in the first game, was their position in the West after all was said and done: 47-21, good for sole possession of first place, half a game ahead of New Orleans.
The Lakers managed to go 2-2 on the trip, their last long foray away from home, and capped it off with victories over Dallas and Utah, assumed to be contenders in the West.
Then there's this: Injuries or not, 11 of their final 14 games are at Staples Center, including a designated road game against the Clippers.
Lamar Odom was seemingly everywhere -- 21 points, 12 rebounds and six assists -- and the Lakers shot with startling accuracy (52.5%), not to mention the unyielding defense they threw at the Jazz, which had won a franchise record-tying 19 consecutive home games and was 29-3 in its own arena before Thursday.
"When we get things going, we feel there's not a game that we can't win," Odom said. "We've got to keep winning so we can stiff-arm these teams a little bit."
The Lakers didn't fare so well in their last visit here, posting an embarrassing 120-96 loss in November even though the Jazz played without starters Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur.
Deron Williams had a career-high 35 points in that game, Andrei Kirilenko had a triple-double, and Phil Jackson said the Lakers were "soft as Dairy Queen ice cream."
Consider them more hardened this time around.
Williams had 26 points and 12 assists, but the rest of the Jazz shot 42.2%.
The Lakers led by as many as 24 in the second quarter, lost half of it by the time the fourth quarter began, but never let the Jazz take the lead.
Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar hit some key fourth-quarter shots, finishing with 11 points each. Vladimir Radmanovic dunked, twice, and scored 13 points after contributing 21 points Tuesday in the Lakers' 102-100 victory over Dallas.
