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Daily Dime: Fatigue slows Lakers

By John Hollinger
ESPN.com

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

SALT LAKE CITY -- "Loss due to attrition in scheduling" is the term Phil Jackson likes to use for games like this, but he wouldn't go there Wednesday. I will. Playing their eighth game in eight cities in 14 days, Jackson tried every trick in the book to get one last gasp from his troops heading into the All-Star break -- limiting Kobe Bryant to 36 minutes, screaming at Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar in separate timeouts after defensive breakdowns, and taking the unusual step of having a shootaround on the morning of a back-to-back with just 22 ½ hours between tip-offs. And while L.A.'s tired legs were up to the task offensively, the Lakers' fatigue betrayed itself on D in a 113-109 loss to the Jazz.

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