Fortunately, he and Phil Jackson are now on the same page

It appears Phil and I are finally on the same page, the Lakers practicing Friday, and both of us agreeing there was no reason to talk to each other.

“I’m done; I don’t have to talk to you,” he quickly said when I stopped by to say hello after he was finished speaking to a media mob.

I had spent the time catching up on things with Mitch Kupchak, who is very likable, interesting and more inclined to engage in a dialogue than insist on delivering a monologue.

“Get a good night’s sleep,” I told Phil, encouraging as always, knowing it’s always better to have him at his best in the media sessions before each playoff game.

At the same time I thought I might employ a new tack, and praise Phil for his work over the years in discussing what might happen in Game 4.

“You have lost 85 playoff games,” I began, “which means you have a lot of experience losing.”

Surprisingly, I didn’t find it all that difficult to praise him.

” . . . So knowing how difficult it is to win playoff games,” I continued, “are you upset your team tossed away a chance to win Game 3?”

Right away, of course, he disagreed.

“I think Utah took it,” he said, adding he would dispute the contention the Lakers tossed it away.

I say the Lakers blew it, and he’s got the Jazz playing as if they are seeded first.

Then he began rambling, which he likes to do rather than admit there’s any credence to criticism.

He started talking about Utah coming out in the first quarter as the aggressor and Andrew Bynum picking up an offensive foul before being interrupted.

“If you’re the No. 1 seed and you have a 13-point lead over the No. 8 seed, shouldn’t your team close the deal? Isn’t it a concern they could not?”

“That’s a concern,” Jackson finally admitted, his playoff record now 196 wins, 85 losses and 1 admission the critic has a point. “I’m sure those players are upset about that and had a sleepless night tossing, turning and thinking about that.”

Now what do you think are the chances of any Laker tossing and turning at night, the guaranteed money already in the bank, and a 2-1 edge in playoff games over the No. 8-seeded team?

It’s a victory, of sorts, if everyone wakes up in time for Game 4. And so we move forward to Game 4, the Lakers jumping out to a 13-point lead with 1:32 remaining in the first half with all that tossing, turning and thinking about what they might do if ever put in such a situation again.

In the next 1:32, the Lakers went to sleep. The lead dwindled to seven, and tell me you weren’t saying to yourself, “Here we go again, just like all season long, these guys can’t hold on to a lead.”

The Lakers came back in the second half to go up by 14, which isn’t all that tough to do when matched against the Washington Generals, who are supposed to lose.

But it was another opportunity to rip the hearts out of the Jazz, and end this exercise in certainty.

Glory be, they can do it, the Jazz goners as the guys did whatever they wanted -- finally winning by 14.

Jackson, though, told the media, “I wasn’t happy with the way we did it.”

Huh? Why does this guy always have to emphasize the negative?

He said there were too many turnovers and the team didn’t run the offense while seemingly content to let the clock run down.

But wait, I said, someone putting a microphone in front of my face, “Were you happy going up by 14 in the second quarter, the lead dwindling and then coming back in the third quarter to pull away and this time holding on to the lead?”

“Yes,” Jackson said.

“We agree,” I said.

“Terrific,” he replied, and now it’s on to Game 5, and the obvious question for Phil that needs to be asked before the game.

“Will you tell the guys to do their best to win tacos for everyone?”

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JACKSON, talking about Tex Winter, who fell ill earlier Saturday, was asked about Winter’s consulting role with the Lakers. I didn’t ask the question, so he answered it.

“He commonly called himself the insultant rather than the consultant,” Jackson said with a grin, “and leveled criticism all the way through -- from the players to the coaches.”

As an example, Jackson talked about the NBA Finals, the Lakers’ game with Philly, and Winter leaning over Jackson’s shoulder at one point to say, “[Larry] Brown is outcoaching you.”

The Lakers lost the game in overtime, their only loss in 16 games during the 2001 NBA playoffs.

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IT WAS NFL draft day, and as the day would have it, ran into former Ram Merlin Olsen, shaking his hand and losing mine in the process.

He lives in Park City, cheers for the Jazz, and doesn’t hold out much hope for the Rams to right themselves any time soon. Obviously, he still knows his football.

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IT WAS Pete Carroll’s worst moment to date, the brushoff he gave quarterback Mark Sanchez and the negative reaction to Sanchez’s decision to turn pro.

The New York Jets traded up to get the fifth pick and Sanchez, and now it will be interesting to see who fares better with the Jets, Carroll, who was 6-10 as head coach before being dismissed, or Sanchez.

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from Tammie Haller:

“I’m sorry, I find it hard to believe that the agency whose mission is, ‘To protect and defend the United States...’ would have you as a guest speaker. If J. Edgar Hoover were still alive, no doubt he’d launch one of his confidential files on you. Confidential File Notes: crybaby sports columnist with delusional infatuation with Salma Hayek; should be relegated to covering dog shows in Nebraska.”

Is it so hard to believe I was just on the FBI’s Most Wanted List?

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t.j.simers@latimes.com