Bryant, widely expected to receive the National Basketball Association's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for the first time next week, set the tone with 15 points in a high-energy opening quarter.

Although both teams were quick to take advantage of open-court opportunities, the Lakers edged ahead 25-24.

Roared on by an electrified home crowd, Los Angeles tightened its grip in the second quarter with a superb display of defense and attack.

Repeatedly turning over Utah possession and lightning-fast on the break, the Lakers raced into a 54-41 lead at halftime with reserve Sasha Vujacic adding two three-pointers.

The Jazz steadily clawed their way back with a much-improved offense in the third period, Deron Williams nailing a three-pointer just before the buzzer to cut the Lakers' lead to 79-72.

Utah maintained the pressure in the final quarter, trimming the gap to just four points before the Lakers again pulled away.

"It was a game in which we could have easily come up on the losing end with the amount of rebounds and second chances they got out there today," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

"We were able to sustain that effort late in the game. Maybe it was just the fact that we were well rested that gave us that victory."

Six days ago, the Lakers completed a 4-0 sweep of the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference quarterfinal.

Earlier, Paul Pierce poured in 22 points to help the Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks 99-65 and win their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series 4-3 in Boston.

Kevin Garnett added 18 points while Pierce also contributed three assists and 10 rebounds to send the Celtics into the semifinals against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Boston, the best team in the NBA during the regular season after going 66-16, outplayed Atlanta to build a 36-point lead going into the final quarter.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily May 6, 2008)