Utah pulls out 123-115 win in OT

The Jazz played their best defense of the playoffs to tie the series.

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

They 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, Utah played its toughest defense of the playoffs and pulled out a 123-115 victory on Sunday, tying the Western Conference semifinals 2-2.

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 the Staples Center.

Game 6 will be Friday back in Salt Lake City, where the Jazz are 4-1 in the playoffs.

Deron Williams had 29 points and 14 assists, while Carlos Boozer scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half and grabbed 12 rebounds. Mehmet Okur added 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Kirilenko finished with 15 points and five blocks — stuffing Bryant twice as the Lakers tried to rally in overtime.

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.

Lamar Odom had 26 points and 13 rebounds, and Pau Gasol scored 23 and pulled down 10 boards for the Lakers. 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.