After all, the Lakers had just completed a 6-0 road trip by knocking off both of the Beasts of the East, Boston and Cleveland -- two places where opposing teams have had about as much luck this season as, oh, say the Jazz have had in trying to stay healthy.

That's right -- not much luck at all.

First, on Feb. 5, the Lakers snapped Boston's 12-game winning streak at Boston Garden, where the defending NBA champions have lost only four times in 28 games this season.

Then, on Feb. 8, Los Angeles shattered Cleveland's 23-game winning streak, dealing the Cavaliers their first home-court defeat of the season in a heralded matchup between the NBA's reigning mega-superstar, Kobe Bryant, and the man who would someday be king, LeBron James.

And the Lakers accomplished this difficult feat despite being without big man Andrew Bynum, their second-leading rebounder, who was also averaging 14 points per game when he went down with a knee injury on Feb. 1. Bynum likely won't be back until late in the regular season.

It's no wonder, then, that some "experts" figured we'd might as well just anoint the Lakers right now.

Sure, they reasoned, let's go ahead and cancel the rest of the regular season, forgo the playoffs, give 'em the NBA championship trophy, throw a parade, and tell everybody else to go on vacation. And thanks for playing.

Then, of course, the Lakers came to Salt Lake City a few days ago and, well, we'd better cancel the parade. Now it looks like maybe we'd better play the rest of the regular season and postseason, too, because the Jazz handed the Lakers a gritty 113-109 defeat.

As we are reminded almost daily, there are no sure things in sports.

On a grander stage, our eyes were opened when the Utes' football team blasted Alabama in this year's Sugar Bowl. We certainly saw it when the N.Y. Giants stunned the New England Patriots in last year's Super Bowl. And we witnessed it when the Boston Red Sox rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the rival N.Y. Yankees in the American League Championship Series a few years back.

Happens all the time. That's why they play the game.

Sure, the Lakers are one of the three best teams in the NBA this season. They'll likely be the odds-on favorite to win this year's championship, especially if Bynum comes back healthy.

But, on any given day ...

Yep, that's why they play the game.

I mean, if you didn't have a chance, then why bother showing up?

Which brings us back to the injury-riddled Jazz. With wins in five of their last seven games, it looks like they may be turning the corner in what has been, at times, a frustrating season.

Deron Williams has already begun his kick-butt-for-the-All-Star-snub campaign, scoring 31 or more points in his last five games.

If -- and that could be a big "if" -- Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko can come back and contribute the way they always have, then Utah could still make some noise before this season's through.

(Of course -- speaking of big "ifs" -- if I could lose 60 pounds, I could fit into my leisure suit from the 1980s again, too. But hey, why in the heck would I wanna do that?)

Right now, the Jazz are sitting eighth in the Western Conference playoff race. But they're only a winning streak away from climbing all the way up to the third spot.

That could happen this month, when they play five of their next six games at home, with their only road game against Minnesota. But they'd better make some hay soon, because the Jazz schedule is downright brutal down the stretch in April.

And as for the Lakers? Should we crown 'em now?

Naw. In the words of that old TV commercial, let's make 'em do it the old-fashioned way -- and earn it.

After all, that's why they play the game. E-mail: rhollis@desnews.com