Lakers hit reset button with loss as Bryant slowed

SALT LAKE CITY -- And then, everything changed.

In the NBA, you're as good as your best player and the Lakers' best went from bionic to mortal when his back seized up, as the Jazz beat the Lakers, 123-115, in overtime Sunday to tie their second-round series, 2-2.

Kobe Bryant scored 25 points in the first three quarters after tweaking his back, but by the fourth, when he hurt it again while charging into Andrei Kirilenko, he was only Kobe Bryant in spirit.

Nevertheless, with Bryant turning playmaker, his spirit was contagious.

With Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher assuming Bryant's role as savior, the Lakers wiped out a 12-point deficit in the last 3:59 of regulation.

Fisher, booed as always by local fans, scored 10 points in a row in the Lakers' 20-8 closing spurt, dropping three three-pointers.

Odom tied the game with a three-pointer with 53 seconds left, then again with a rebound of a Bryant miss with :04 left.

That was as long as the magic lasted. With Bryant missing six of his seven shots in overtime, the Jazz pulled away.

Bryant wound up playing 47 minutes, including the last 14, missing 11 of his last 13 shots, even if his presence scared the Jazz to the end.

"You should sit there and have to worry about it," Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan said. "That's not a pleasant feeling. I've been in it a couple of times and usually came up short."

Said Utah's Deron Williams: "MVP. Hurt or not, you've got to respect to him. You've got to get to him, you've got to guard him."

The series now returns to Staples Center for Game 5 on Wednesday, with the focus on Bryant's back.

Of course, as he said, he'll play in any case ("I should be OK, I should be all right, I'll definitely play"), but it will make a big difference if he's the Bryant who started this game or the one who finished it.

mark.heisler@latimes.com