Jazz fail first basic: Putting ball in hoop

Sure enough, it's going to be a painful learning experience for the young Utah Jazz.

First lecture of the year: Old and sick can still be better than young and optimistic.

It just so happened that the schoolmaster on the Jazz's opening day was none other than the team that has usually schooled them: the Los Angeles Lakers.

Tuesday at the Staples Center, the Lakers used every trick they could — not the least being a handful of down-the-lane slam-dunks — to wipe out the Jazz, 96-71. While it's the Lakers that are wily and tested, they were also supposed to be hurting. After losing their first two games, they should have been flat, playing their third game in three nights.

Instead, they made the Jazz look like a bunch of, well, schoolchildren.

It didn't hurt that the Jazz couldn't hit land with a slingshot, making just 32 percent of their field goals.

Thus, the optimism surrounding the new look Jazz took its first big hit. The Jazz's highlight (yes, there was at least one) was Derrick Favors' alley oop dunk in the early minutes. The lowlight: An awful stretch of shooting, in which they missed 23-of-25 attempts. The Jazz shot just 26 percent for the first half and never recovered.

So the Jazz are going to have to learn on the fly. One thing they should already know is that they can outrun older teams. Eventually old guys tire out, right? But on Tuesday the Jazz didn't wear anyone out except the guy keeping track of missed shots.

That isn't to say the kids were all to blame. Veteran Al Jefferson was awful, missing 14-of-16 shots. Raja Bell missed four of his first five. Devin Harris made two of six and Paul Millsap just three of his first 10.

Considering the way the season started for the Lakers, beating them should have been, well, child's play. The (formerly) mighty Lakers lost on Christmas Day against Chicago and the next night to Sacramento.

Team Tremendous had suddenly turned into Team Turrrrrible. Lamar Odom had been shipped to Dallas, Andrew Bynum was still serving a suspension for a flagrant foul in last year's NBA Finals and Kobe Bryant was dealing with pending divorce and a wrist injury.

Meanwhile, Pau Gasol is playing for a team that tried to trade him in the failed Chris Paul deal.

That's just plain awkward.