"They simply haven't had the size to combat that of the Los Angeles Lakers, and still might not.

Al Jefferson fired the first salvo in the war against that assertion Friday night, scoring 20 points and pulling down eight rebounds while logging 41 minutes in the Jazz's 102-96 win over the two-time defending NBA champions.

"That's no longer an excuse," said Jefferson, who was acquired in the offseason from Minnesota to beef up Utah's front line after two-time NBA All-Star power forward Carlos Boozer bolted for Chicago. "You know, that's the way I look at it: It's no longer an excuse as far as the Lakers' size on us."

The Lakers did play Friday without injured big man Andrew Bynum, who is recovering from knee surgery.

But, Jefferson shot right back in response to that point, saying when center Mehmet Okur, who still is recovering from Achilles tendon surgery, "gets back for us, we're gonna be even bigger."

"So, you know, to me, that's just not an excuse no more," he said.

Three more regular-season meetings in 2010-11, and perhaps yet another playoff series — the Lakers have eliminated the Jazz from each of the past three postseasons — will permit that debate to soon play out over a much broader sample pool."