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Lakers, Jazz meet in pivotal Game Five

May 14, 2008 - 1:08 PM Utah at LA Lakers 10:30 pm EDT Western Conference semifinals Series tied, 2-2

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) - If the postseason holds true to form, the Staples Center should once again become a safe haven for the Los Angeles Lakers.

The top-seed Lakers will try to remain undefeated at home in the playoffs when they host the Utah Jazz in Game Five of their Western Conference semifinals series Wednesday.

After winning the first two games of the series here, the Lakers came up short in both road contests in Salt Lake City - including Sunday's 123-115 overtime loss in Game Four.

Home teams own a commanding 17-1 record in the NBA's four conference semifinals, with the Detroit Pistons being the lone club to capture a road triumph last Saturday.

Reigning MVP Kobe Bryant lead the way Sunday with 33 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds despite battling back spasms throughout most of the game.

"You've got to make some adjustments," Bryant said of his injury. "You can't run like you want to, cut like you want to."

Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol put together their best performance of the series as a tandem - combining for 49 points, 23 rebounds and four blocks.

The Lakers will need a better performance from their bench after receiving just 16 points compared to 39 by the Jazz reserves.

"Our bench stepped up and provided with a lot of scoring and a lot of energy. We need to take that to L.A.," Jazz guard Deron Williams said. "We're confident now but we still need to prove we can win on the road."

"I was really impressed, and the thing that kind of seemed to give us a little bit of life was our second group gave us a lift," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said.

Williams collected 29 points and 14 assists and Mehmet Okur added 18 and 11 boards for Utah, which owns a dismal 3-16 record at the Staples Center all-time.

"We're definitely confident now," Williams said. "Our first two games didn't go exactly how we wanted them to go. We made some adjustments in these past two games and we feel like we are playing better basketball. We're more equipped to go over there and get a win."