LAKERS NOTEBOOK: JACKSON JUSTIFIES CRITICIZING THE REFEREES.

Byline: ROSS SILER Staff Writer

Lakers coach Phil Jackson greeted his $25,000 fine from the NBA office for publicly criticizing officials last weekend with acceptance as he met with reporters before Thursday's game.

``I think that anything's acceptable if it gets the results that it's after,'' Jackson said. ``If it makes the league pay attention to how they deliver the (referee) crews and what kind of games you get, then it's important, and how kids are treated on the floor.''

Jackson was fined after he called the crew that worked last Friday's loss to Utah ``dubious'' and complained that teenage center Andrew Bynum was not allowed to play because of the calls that went against him.

Not only was he sending a message with his comments at Saturday's practice, Jackson also was taking a stand for Bynum. The 19-year-old was on the wrong end of several calls and played only 14 minutes as a result.

``He has to play the game and compete,'' Jackson said of Bynum. ``It's real important for him..''

End game: The visiting team in the NBA has the option of choosing which basket to attack at the start of games, which usually isn't much of a decision at all. Conventional wisdom holds that you want to play defense in front of your bench in the second half.

Utah, however, opted to switch things up Thursday. The Jazz attacked the basket in front of the Lakers' bench in the firsthalf and played offense in front of coach Jerry Sloan on their bench in the second half.

``It changes it up a lot,'' Jackson said. ``We've had one team (New Jersey) that's done that already. I like it a lot because I think it's good for the players to adjust.''