Jazz can’t get any worse

Mike Bresnahan covers the Lakers for The Times and ties up loose ends on the day of his self-designated “Lakers game of the week.” The Lakers play tonight at Utah.

Have to start with that fourth quarter the other night. As in, what in the name of Salt Lake City was that?

The Lakers held the Utah Jazz to six points, the worst fourth quarter ever for the Jazz.

“That’s crazy,” Lakers forward Lamar Odom said.

Maybe the Jazz will get really crazy tonight. Maybe they’ll score, like, eight points in the fourth.

Q&A of the day

Q: Do you think that the Lakers would have signed Ron Artest even if Trevor Ariza’s agent had not balked at their initial contract offer? Ariza is looking very good and very athletic at Houston.

--Dave Fletcher, Santa Rosa, Calif.

A: Ah, it’s the e-mail that won’t stop appearing in my in-box from Lakers fans.

I think the Artest-for-Ariza free-agency “trade” will take years to analyze.

How many championships will the Lakers win over the duration of Artest’s five-year contract? Three is the key number in my mind. If it’s under three, they probably should have stuck with Ariza. If it’s three, then it turned out to be a pretty good move. If it’s more than three, picking him up was brilliant.

Weird science

So this is what NBA players do when they retire.

Former Chicago Bulls center Luc Longley spent $2,900 in an EBay auction to buy naming rights for a new Australian shrimp species, according to the Scientist magazine.

Glad to know . . . I think.

Final thought

Tough to determine who will win tonight.

On one hand, the Lakers have won 4,377 consecutive games. On the other hand, the Jazz will be pumped up with its in-game slogan, “Remember the fourth quarter!!”

Something tells me the Lakers are due for a loss. I’ll take the Jazz on a last-second shot.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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