Jazz, Spurs hold serve

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 2 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 3-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 2 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 5 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."

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.

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."

Spurs 100, Hornets 80: Tim Duncan had 22 points and 15 rebounds, and host San Antonio beat New Orleans in Game 4 to even the Western Conference semifinals at 2-2.

Tony Parker added 21 points for the Spurs, who are assured of a Game 6 back in San Antonio. Chris Paul scored 23 for the Hornets.

Game 5 is Tuesday in New Orleans.

The Spurs led by as many as 27 and were ahead nearly the entire game. They shot 51 percent (39-of-76), while the Hornets were cold when it counted. They shot 37 percent through three quarters and finished 33-of-82 (40 percent) from the field.

The Spurs scored 40 points in the paint. New Orleans' plan to keep 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 hit jumpers.

Manu Ginobili, who also got to the rim at will in Game 3, wasn't as successful in Game 4. But he hit jumpers and two 3-pointers, finishing with 15 points. Duncan also had 4 blocks.

The Spurs outrebounded the Hornets 45-36 and outscored them 30-19 in the decisive third quarter.

The Hornets' David West had 3 blocks but was held to 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting and was visibly frustrated. Reserve Jannero Pargo scored 11 for the Hornets.

The Hornets were hoping to return to New Orleans with a commanding 3-1 series lead, but allowed Duncan and Parker to shoot a combined 18-of-25 from the field. The only area where the duo struggled was its free-throw shooting. Duncan was 2-of-5 and Parker 5-of-8.

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.

San Antonio shot 57.5 percent in the first half, led by Parker and Duncan, who each hit 7-of-10 from the field. Parker had no problem getting to the rim early to lead the Spurs with 18 points at the break.

He had two layups as part of a 13-2 Spurs run, and his jumper capped the burst with 5:27 left in the second quarter to put the Spurs up 45-28.

Duncan, who had flu-like symptoms and ran a fever earlier in the series but said he felt good the day before Game 4, was as effective as he's been against the Hornets this series. He had 15 points and 3 blocks at the half.

His spin move on Tyson Chandler for an easy layup put San Antonio up 47-33 with four minutes left in the half.

Chandler had to sit with 8:39 to play after picking up his fourth and fifth fouls in quick succession. He finished with just 2 points -- a pair of free throws -- and 4 rebounds.