Lakers paint an ugly picture

SALT LAKE CITY -- Well, that was awkward.

And uncomfortable. And painful for the Lakers, who ripped through an assortment of negative adjectives in a numbingly shoddy 120-96 loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday at Energy Solutions Arena.

Their defense was laughably bad in giving up 70 first-half points.

Jazz point guard Deron Williams ran through them as if he were alone in the arena. Lamar Odom was silent and passive, despite Phil Jackson’s insistence he score more often. The Jazz had an unfathomable 70 points in the paint.

And to think the Lakers caught a big break -- two, actually -- when Jazz starters Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur were held out because of ankle and back injuries, respectively. That the Jazz lost a combined 37.3 points and 16.3 rebounds should have been obvious.

It wasn’t -- at all.

It somehow managed to look like the Lakers were playing the Phoenix Suns, not the short-handed Jazz.

Williams torched them for a career-high 35 points and forward Andrei Kirilenko had an absolute field day, compiling 20 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, six steals and four blocked shots.

The defense definitely rested for the Lakers. On almost every Jazz possession, it seemed.

“We were slow, ineffective,” Jackson said. “One of my coaches said we were soft as Dairy Queen ice cream tonight.”

The Lakers couldn’t even win the sentimental battles. Derek Fisher was booed by Utah fans, who chose to remember him more for asking out of his contract than for securing an emotional playoff victory for the Jazz last season.

Kobe Bryant had 28 points on 10-for-19 shooting, and Jordan Farmar had a career-high 21 points, but that was the beginning and end of noteworthy stats for the Lakers.

The Jazz (12-5) look more and more like they’re ready to move up a notch and join San Antonio, Phoenix and Dallas as legitimate Western Conference players.

The Lakers (9-7), meanwhile, looked more like a borderline playoff team, somehow managing to erase the memory of their inspiring 127-99 victory Thursday over Denver.

“They did everything they wanted tonight,” Odom said.

Odom had seven points on three-for five shooting in 28 minutes. He had four rebounds and one assist.

“He didn’t approach the game mentally in the way I wanted him to play,” Jackson said. “I thought that was unfortunate because there was a number of situations that Lamar was in position to help us out and he just seemed not to be focused in what we’re trying to do.”

Said Odom: “Just playing basketball, man.”

The Lakers often encounter trouble in Utah, losing here at least once every season since 1985-86. Last season, there was a 114-108 loss that ultimately cost Jackson $25,000.

The league didn’t find it too amusing when he said he was “dubious” about the referees assigned to the game and then jabbed Utah Coach Jerry Sloan for intimidating them.

“It was one of those nights in Utah that you know you’re going to get,” Jackson said at the time.

The Lakers had no idea what they were going to get this time.

There was surprise, mixed in with hope, when they found out an hour before tipoff that Boozer and Okur were sidelined.

Then the game began, and the fun ended for the Lakers.

The Jazz led after one quarter, 30-22, and at halftime, 70-51. The Jazz led by as many as 28.

“Our big guys didn’t step up to play,” Jackson said. “Our guards weren’t containing the dribble penetration. There was a lot of things wrong.”

The Lakers managed to tweak the Jazz in one minor way in the first quarter, Bryant passing former Utah guard John Stockton for 31st on the career scoring list.

But the joke was on the Lakers the rest of the night.

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com