Jazz, Lakers battle in pivotal Game 5 of West semis

Posted: Wed May 14 10:38 AM

(Sports Network) - The Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz meet for Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinal series tonight at the Staples Center.

This best-of-seven series is tied at 2-2. Game 6 is scheduled for Friday in Utah. The home team has won all four games in this set.

In Game 4, Deron Williams poured in 29 points and dished out 14 assists as the fourth-seeded Jazz survived a late surge and downed the top-seeded Lakers, 123-115, in overtime at EnergySolutions Arena.

Mehmet Okur scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Utah, and Andrei Kirilenko added 15 points. Carlos Boozer ended with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Kyle Korver scored 14 points off the bench in the victory.

NBA MVP Kobe Bryant finished with 33 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists, but was hampered by a back injury and struggled from the field, shooting 13- for-33, including 1-for-10 from beyond the arc.

Lamar Odom had 26 points and 13 rebounds, while Pau Gasol added 23 points and 10 boards for the Lakers. Veteran Derek Fisher scored 15 points off the bench, including 10 straight in the fourth quarter to lead the LA comeback.

Bryant has been dealing with an injured lower back, which he hurt during Game 4. He has been undergoing round-the-clock treatment on his back since the injury.

The Lakers have dropped four straight Game 5s in the playoffs. They are 4-0 at home in this year's postseason.

Utah has lost two straight Game 5s in the postseason. The Jazz are 2-3 on the road in this year's playoffs.

This is the fourth time the Lakers and Jazz have met in the playoffs. Los Angeles defeated the Jazz in seven games in the 1988 West semis. Utah knocked out the Lakers in five, 4-1, in the 1997 semifinals and swept LA in the 1998 conference finals.

The Lakers, who swept the eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets, 4-0, in round one, have been victorious in four of their last five trips to the semifinals. They fell in six games, 4-2, to the Spurs in the 2003 Western Conference semis.

In the regular season, Los Angeles won its first Pacific Division crown since the 2003-04 campaign, when Shaquille O'Neal was trying to lead the Lakers to their fourth title in five years.

Utah, which won its second straight Northwest Division crown during the regular season, has made it to the West semis for the second straight year. Last year, the Jazz knocked off the Golden State Warriors, 4-1, in this round and fell to the San Antonio Spurs, 4-1, in the conference finals. The Jazz are 6-6 all-time in the semifinals.

The Jazz defeated Tracy McGrady and the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets, 4-2, for the second straight year in the opening round of the playoffs.