Jazz's Okur off target in return to lineup

"My teammates did great job. They create open shots for me, but I miss."

"He missed shots. He had a couple good shots," said Sloan. "They're the same shots he's had all year long, some of them. They didn't go in."

Okur said his ailing back isn't 100 percent, but it was well enough he felt confident to suit up and play. "I tried to give my best, what I got out there. I missed some shots," he said.

The Jazz did make it close until they made some defensive errors, said Sloan, down the stretch as the Lakers pulled away from a 96-94 lead to win by eight.

It's the time of the game when Okur often shines brightest, but in the last three minutes, he made one 3-pointer and missed two.

"We've won some games with dramatic plays at the end," observed Sloan, "but tonight we couldn't pull it out with dramatic plays. You've got to make solid basketball all the way through, and we weren't able to do that."

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