"If you know what's going on," Sloan said, "you should know that."

Yet the Jazz still didn't act as if they did early on in a 113-100 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night at Staples Center, as they fell behind quickly and never quite could recover.

Utah -- which fell to 19-15 in its first game of 2009, and its first since last Monday's home win over Philadelphia -- was down by as many as 17 in Friday's first quarter, and by 20 four times in the second.

"We put ourselves in a bad position," point guard Deron Williams said afterward.

"We didn't look like we wanted to play at all the first quarter, and we had a tough time to show any energy or emotion about playing," Sloan added. "It looked like we were bored to be here, and they just wore us out."

The Jazz did trim L.A.'s 55-35 lead to 14 at 57-43 in the final two minutes and 13 seconds before the break, and to as few as three when a Williams-fed 3-pointer by C.J. Miles made it 67-64 with 5:35 to go in the third quarter.

They even had their deficit at just four, 97-93, with less than three minutes remaining.

But Pau Gasol answered with two free throws, and Trevor Ariza's steal from Miles led to a layup and a free throw that pushed the Laker lead to 102-93.

"He made great plays," Sloan said of Ariza, whose five steals were a season-high. "We put it right out there for him. I think I could have gotten a steal."

"Too exposed," Miles added with reference to Ariza's last steal from him. "Thinking too much when I first caught it. Probably should have shot it, because he was so far away. That's when I decided to drive, and he's as athletic as anybody. Has quick hands, and got the steal."

Gasol finished with 21 points, matching Jazz center Mehmet Okur's team-high total, and Kobe Bryant had a team-high 40 for the 26-5, West-leading Lakers.

And that left Utah still on the outside looking in at the conference's current postseason picture, something that before Friday's late-starting game -- even with the season still not yet half-done -- seemed to have its coach quite concerned.

"Every game is important to us now," said Sloan, whose club has lost 95 man-games to injuries this season -- including 22 by two-time All-Star power forward Carlos Boozer, who'll undergo surgery next Friday in his injured left knee.

"We're not even in the playoffs. That's the tough part of it," added Sloan, whose Jazz were facing the Lakers for the first time since L.A. ousted them in the second round of the 2008 postseason. "You know, we've worked and tried to do the best we can to get guys back -- we've still got to try to win games somewhere."

Sloan takes little solace in the fact the Jazz were in a similar situation around this time last year, when they headed into January just one game above .500 at 17-16.

"But we had everybody together (then)," he said Friday. "Boozer is not there (now), and we're a better team, probably, with him. There's no question about that. But that's the way the business is.

"You've got to work some way to try to get to the playoffs," Sloan added. "Hopefully he gets back, and we can kind of put some more of it back together."

NOTES: Williams -- who had a 12-assist, 10-point double-double -- exited for several minutes in the first quarter. Williams, who came down hard and thought he rolled his ankle a bit, had both of his ankles re-taped and changed shoes. ... Jazz power forward Paul Millsap -- playing his first game after missing three with an injured left knee -- extended his double-double streak to 17 with 16 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. ... The Jazz haven't beaten the Lakers in L.A. -- regular season, or postseason -- since New Year's Day of 2006, an eight-game run. E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com