The Boston Celtics rallied to a 96-89 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday to take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal.
Boston's top-seeded counterpart in the Western Conference also surged 3-2 ahead as the Lakers beat the Utah Jazz 111-104 in Los Angeles.
Kobe Bryant, struggling with a sore back, led Los Angeles with 26 points, Lamar Odom added 22 and Pau Gasol 21, including two key hoops after Utah closed to 103-102. Deron Williams paced the Jazz with 27 points.
"Make a couple of darn shots, that's it, that's what we have to do," Bryant said of what it will take to win in Utah.
"At home, teams play with more energy on the defensive end," he added. "We certainly did tonight. We just have to carry that over. We will. We're a pretty good road team. Utah's an excellent home team, but we've played pretty well in Utah."
"It was a great team effort. My teammates really picked me up tonight," Bryant said.
"The important thing is it can't get any worse," he said of his back. "I should be fine by Game 6."
"He's got a great heart," Gasol said of Bryant, "and a great hunger for winning."
The Cavaliers, led by 23 first-half points from LeBron James, stormed to a 14-point lead in the second quarter before Boston went on a 14-3 run to reach the intermission trailing only 46-43.
The Celtics outscored Cleveland 29-17 in the third quarter for a 72-63 lead and held on as the Cavs made it close in the final seconds.
Trailing 95-89 with 11.6 seconds left, guard Delonte West failed to inbound the ball within the allotted five seconds for a costly violation that ended Cleveland's hopes.