NBA Playoffs | Jazz stifles Lakers in OT, series tied 2-2

SALT LAKE CITY — The Jazz had plenty of chances to crumble and nearly did.

Utah let a 12-point slip away in the last four minutes and faced overtime against league MVP Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Instead of wilting, the Jazz played its toughest defense of the playoffs and pulled out a 123-115 victory on Sunday, tying the Western Conference semifinals at 2.

The Jazz held the Lakers to two field goals in overtime and went 9 for 9 from the foul line while outscoring the Lakers 15-7.

"We never have any doubts in our confidence," said Utah's Andrei Kirilenko, who blocked Bryant twice in overtime and converted a three-point play with 35 seconds remaining to help the Jazz pull away.

After opening the series with two losses in Los Angeles, the Jazz came home and answered with two wins to make it a best-of-three series, starting Wednesday at Staples Center. Game 6 will be Friday back in Salt Lake City, where the Jazz are 4-1 in the playoffs.

Bryant, who said he was fighting back spasms from early in the first quarter, finished with 33 points and 10 assists.

"No excuses for me. [Kirilenko] did a great job," Bryant said. "They did a terrific job. They did big plays when they needed to."

And Los Angeles helped by sending the Jazz to the foul line 20 more times than the Lakers, who made it worse by missing 11 of 25 foul shots.

Derek Fisher finished with 15 points, scoring 10 straight as the Lakers rallied in the fourth, but had no assists and got in early foul trouble.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said the Lakers were depending too much on Bryant.

"I still thought he went to the basket hard at the end," Jackson said. "He was still able to get to the basket and do what he wanted to do. He was out there to make plays."

Midway through the fourth, Lakers forward Luke Walton had a clear path for a layup or dunk after a missed three-pointer by Utah backup guard Ronnie Price, who caught him from behind and blocked the shot to keep Utah's lead at 92-84.

"That was the play of the game," Jazz forward Carlos Boozer said.

Utah was 40 for 76 (53 percent) and had a huge advantage at the foul line, making 37 of 45 free throws. The Jazz reserves also dominated the Lakers', outscoring them 39-16.

Utah's Deron Williams had a chance to win it at the end of regulation but was blocked by Fisher, his teammate a year ago. But the Lakers' momentum stopped there as the Jazz regained its composure.

"Everybody here's been in overtime games. It's just another five minutes added to the clock," Williams said.

The Lakers struggled in the extra period and didn't score until a layup by Bryant with 1:10 remaining cut Utah's lead to 112-110.

Kirilenko made a dunk and a free throw to put Utah up by five and the Jazz hit the rest of its free throws to clinch it.

Other game

Spurs 100, Hornets 80

Tim Duncan had 22 points and 15 rebounds, and San Antonio beat New Orleans to even the Western Conference semifinals at 2 each.

The Spurs led by as many as 27 and were ahead nearly the entire game.

The Spurs scored 40 points in the paint. New Orleans' plan to keep Tony Parker out of the lane didn't work, as he knifed his way through heavy traffic or found openings to get to the rim, and also hit jumpers. He finished with 21 points.

The Spurs were ahead for all but 3:24 in the first half, taking the lead for good after Parker's layup with 8:36 to play in the first quarter broke a 4-all tie.