What it made unofficial is that the Jazz are dead and done.

They aren't coming back now.

They took in the full impact of both bits, falling behind in their first-round playoff series with the Lakers, 3-1, by the count of 108-94. Another fact: Kobe went berserk.

And the best thing about it for the Lakers -- and the worst for the Jazz -- was that he did it without being a pig, without taking his teammates out of the game, or leaving them behind.

At the final buzzer, Bryant walked off the court with 38 points. And providing some symmetry, he got them in the same number of shots -- 24, his uniform number -- he took in Game 3, when he made just five of those attempts. That's also the number of points he had at the half.

This time, he rang up 16 makes.

Kobe said he smoked a cigar after his awful game the other night to smoke out the stench.

Must have been a helluva Cuban.

quot;[This] is exactly what I had in mind,quot; Bryant said afterward. quot;I've been sitting back a little too much. I wanted to come out and be more aggressive.... It makes it easy for my teammates to gain confidence.quot;

And that's precisely what happened.

All the Lakers gained confidence, by the truckload, especially over two stretches, when they erased a seven-point deficit in the second quarter, going on a 20-2 run, and in the third, when they extended a seven-point lead to a 19-pointer.

Game over.

That initial run was sparked by three straight threes -- by Luke Walton, Sasha Vujacic and Shannon Brown.

All told, the Lakers shot 52 percent, burying the Jazz -- particularly from the perimeter, hitting midrange jumpers and faraway bombs.

Five Laker players scored in double figures, and two more went for nine points.

Showing the way, Kobe displayed it all, everything he couldn't scratch up in Game 3. Jumpers, jumpers and more jumpers. Twisters, squibbers, flippers, floaters, bankers -- shots that had no business going in, that couldn't go in, really, but did. They were the kinds of shots your junior high coach would have chucked you out of the gym for even considering taking.

Phil Jackson, though, just grinned.

quot;He was hot right off the bat and continued his onslaught,quot; he said.

Somebody in the postgame described Kobe, all old school, as being quot;in the zone,quot; and that hackneyed expression will do here. None of us are sure exactly what or where that zone is, because we've never been there, but it apparently exists. It's part of Bryant's world.

And the Jazz hated being subjected to its gravitational pull.

Kyle Korver called Bryant's performance quot;pretty amazing.quot;

Jerry Sloan said, quot;Kobe Bryant was spectacular. We never could get close enough to guard him. He just shot through us, over us, whatever he took. He was very difficult for us to play.quot;

After Kobe scored the Lakers' first 11 points, and initial 13 of 15, he eased back just enough to consider what it was his team needed and when it needed it. If the Jazz made a brief run, he snuffed it out with another tough basket, almost toying with the Jazz.

quot;A lot of it was Kobe taking over,quot; Deron Williams said. quot;You could just see he came out on a mission tonight. He shot the ball well, you know.quot;

Yeah, everybody knew.

quot;We didn't do a good job defensively,quot; Carlos Boozer said.

But, even if they had, there was nothing the Jazz could have done -- except absorb their beating. And call their travel agents to book their villas in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. They'll be lounging in them next week.

GORDON MONSON hosts quot;The Monson and Graham Showquot; weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on 1280 AM The Zone. He can be reached at gmonson@sltrib.com .