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The Utah Jazz domination of the Los Angeles Lakers was a great way to start the season.

How big of a pounding was this? Keith McLeod, NBA castoff who is starting because the first two point guards ahead of him are injured, had more assists for the Jazz than the entire Laker team. The Lakers were over six minutes into the game before they got their first field goal. Remember that ghost that possessed Chris Mihm in Game 1 and pushed him to 23 and 12? The ghost left; Mihm is back to 6 and 5 self.

The Jazz weren't perfect. Mehmet Okur had an Ostertag-esque performance, missing his shots and looking lost in the offense. It may have been due to the scratched eye, but time will tell. The Jazz let their two rookies come on the floor and miss three shots each.

Carlos Boozer was delivering in the power-forward position, putting up 27 and 11. Andrei Kirilenko flew around the court, blocking eight shots and disrupting about thirty more. Matt Harpring came off the bench and added 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting.

It's exciting to be in the West and watch teams like the Lakers, Kings, Rockets, Grizzlies, Nuggets and Hornets struggle early. The expectations were that the Jazz are a playoff lock, but as Greg Anthony said, but now home-court advantage is looking like a realistic goal. San Antonio and Minnesota are clearly the top two, and Dallas is looking great, but after that, it gets pretty open.

It's looking like a fascinating season.

Side notes:

- A moment of silence for coach Jerry Sloan's wife Bobbye, who died of pancreatic cancer, was a moving way to start the game.

- Jim Gray invented news out of thin air when he badgered owner Larry H. Miller into leaving the door open for Karl Malone to possibly return to the Jazz during a quick interview during a break. The Mailman's not coming back to the Jazz, and Miller was unhappy with Gray's line of questioning and baseless conclusions. But Malone will have a statue at the Delta Center and his jersey will be retired here in a year or two. Don't be shocked to see I'm sure Gray walk away from that ceremony reporting Miller is selling the team to Malone or something.

- Raul Lopez's knee surgery went well and they hope to have him back within a month. And Carlos Arroyo is day-to-day. If Arroyo and Lopez are back soon enough then 8-assist man Keith McLeod may find himself waived before recently signed veteran Howard Eisley.

- Seven-footer Curtis Borchardt has played 16 games in two years, yet the Jazz picked up his fourth-year option. His 5 points, 6 boards and 3 blocks in 14 minutes showed that maybe Miller wasn't completely psycho when he approved that extension.