Photo by Michael Goulding
AP

The Jazz's Andrei Kirilenko, left, blocks a shot attempt by Kobe Bryant in overtime during Game 4 on Sunday. Kirilenko's defense on Bryant helped Utah make it two straight at home to even the playoff series at 2-2.

Photo by Scott Winterton
Deseret News

Jazz guard Ronnie Price, left, is fouled by Lakers forward Ronny Turiaf as Luke Walton (4) also defends during Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Sunday. Turiaf was ejected for the flagrant foul.

SALT LAKE CITY — The opening minutes saw Kobe Bryant throw his back out and hobble around thereafter in a twisted imitation of his cooked-bodied coach, Phil Jackson.

The first half went on to hold more drama than the Lakers' entire series with Denver.

The second half wound up so good that there just had to be overtime.

That is when a Lakers team — exhibiting championship-level gumption to that point to pick up the slack left from Bryant's back spasms — "fell apart," as Derek Fisher put it.

So the Lakers fell into a 2-2 playoff series tie with a 123-115 overtime loss Sunday to the Utah Jazz. It's a best-of-three series now, and even though the Lakers hold the potential trump card of home-court advantage, this isn't a comfortable position for a team that just three days earlier had been enjoying a fast-forward run through a perfect postseason.

"We need to get out and get the lead and play from ahead instead of playing from behind," Lakers forward Luke Walton said.

The Lakers know they could've been savoring how Pau Gasol hung tough before Fisher and Lamar Odom had Bryant's back to erase a 12-point deficit in the last 3:59 of regulation. Instead of riding that wave in overtime, though, the Lakers tried to recreate Tuesday's scene where they sat there as a polite audience while Bryant stood up to accept the NBA MVP trophy. A hunchbacked Bryant wasn't up to such individual heroics — something Jackson said should have been plain: "He didn't have the kind of energy to take over the game" — and missed 6 of 7 shots in overtime.

"I was angry at his teammates for dropping the ball off in his lap when he was in a situation," Jackson said before adding: "Guys just bailed out on him."

Fisher, Gasol, Odom and Sasha Vujacic combined to take three shots to Bryant's seven in overtime. For the game Bryant shot 13 of 33 (39.4 percent) to those four teammates' 30 of 48 (62.5 percent).

Yet the undercurrent afterward was that Bryant (33 points, 10 assists) could have jumped out of the elastic binder he donned in the fourth quarter for back support and single-handedly won the game.

Odom in regulation hit a tying 3-pointer off Bryant's pass. With 4.6 seconds Odom left a tying follow-up of Bryant's missed layup, but in his postgame comments Odom called Bryant "a different kind of animal."

Utah coach Jerry Sloan also alluded to how Michael Jordan has done in the Jazz in the past despite appearing physically unable.

"I've been in it a couple times and usually come up short," Sloan said. "But our guys were fighting really hard."

The Lakers erred in overtime also by selling out on defense against struggling Carlos Boozer and got hit by overtime-opening jumpers from Mehmet Okur. Deron Williams (29 points, 14 assists) set up both Okur shots and Andrei Kirilenko's 3-point play for a 115-110 Jazz lead.

Fisher took responsibility for not organizing the Lakers as well as Williams did Utah in overtime. Fisher also derailed the Lakers early with foul trouble for the second consecutive game, and backup Jordan Farmar continued to be so toxic that Jackson broke new ground by playing Vujacic at point guard.

Jackson ripped into his bench players after the game for their minimal contributions. Primary backup big man Ronny Turiaf was ejected 1:53 into the second quarter for a type-two flagrant foul that caused Utah's Ronnie Price to get four stitches over his right eye.

"I want to apologize to my teammates for the result of my foul," Turiaf said. "In no way, shape or form was I trying to hurt anybody."

Bryant had electric-stimulation treatment rigged to his back after he hurt it spinning to take the second shot of the game. He said afterward that he would definitely play Game 5 on Wednesday. Even so, there will be opportunities aplenty for all the Lakers to combine on better teamwork than in their overtime fizzle.

"That's something that we talked about," Bryant said. "But next time we'll be ready."