Los Angeles - Cleveland's LeBron James brought his "A" game in the first half, but Boston's Rajon Rondo was the "X" factor. Kevin Garnett had 26 points with 16 rebounds while Rondo added 20 points with 13 assists, and the Boston Celtics beat the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 96-89 on Wednesday night for a 3-2 advantage in their Western Conference playoff series.
"Rondo was fantastic for us tonight," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "He made great decisions."
Paul Pierce scored 29 points, including five key free throws in the final seconds, as Boston ran its home playoff record to 7-0 - a stark contrast to its 0-6 mark on the road.
The Celtics can advance to the conference finals with a win at Cleveland on Friday night. Should they continue their winless road ways, the series returns to Boston for decisive game seven on Sunday.
"We know we have our work cut out for us as we go out on the road and try to close it out," Pierce said. "We have to work on somehow, someway of closing out this series."
James led the defending Eastern Conference champion Cavaliers with 35 points and Delonte West added 21.
"It was a pretty good individual performance by me," said James, who made 12 of 25 shots, but just four-of-11 in the second half. "But us losing the game means more than anything."
"King James" pointed to Rondo as the difference-maker.
"For Rondo to get 20, 13 and one turnover speaks a lot," James said. "Without Rondo tonight, it would have been a much tougher game for them to win. He was definitely the player of the game tonight; he was the X factor."
James scored 23 points in the first half when the Cavaliers built a 14-point cushion. However. Rondo nailed a pair of three-pointer fueling a 14-3 closing run and the Celtics pulled to within 46-43 at the break.
"We didn't panic when things weren't going right for us," Rivers admitted.
The Celtics carried the momentum into the third quarter with a stellar defensive effort and 12-of-16 field goal shooting. James was limited to one basket and they outscored the Cavaliers 29-17 to take the lead for good, 72-63.
"Their defensive aggression in that third quarter was the biggest difference in the ballgame," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said.
The Cavs trimmed an 11-point deficit to 91-87 on two free throws by West with 45 seconds remaining and missed an opportunity to pull closer. Garnett missed a jumper, but Ray Allen tipped the ball to Pierce, who made both free thows and added three more in the last 16 seconds to seal the victory.
The Cavs understand the sense of urgency to win game six or start their summer vacation early.
"We know it's win or go home situation and we have to approach it that way," James said. "We are a very good team at home, but a LeBron team is never desperate."
Elsewhere LA Lakers 111, Utah Jazz 104 League MVP Kobe Bryant had 26 points, six rebounds and seven assists despite painful back spasms, and received timely contributions down the stretch as the Lakers grabbed a 3-2 advantage over the visiting Jazz in their Western Conference semifinal series.
"I got a lot out my back, more than I expected," said Bryant, who shot just six-of-10 from the floor in 41 minutes. "Pau and Lamar brought us home down the stretch."
Lamar Odom had 22 points with 11 rebounds for the Lakers while Spain's Pau Gasol finished with 21 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
The Lakers can move into the conference finals with a victory on Friday night in Utah. If necessary, game seven will be back in Los Angeles on Monday.
"It's going to be another tough game," Gasol said. "We want to be aggressive and try to get that win number four and start preparing for the next round."
The Lakers never trailed and led by as many as 12 before having it cut to 101-100 on a three-pointer by Deron Williams with 2 minutes 18 seconds remaining.
However, Odom dunked off a pass from Bryant. Utah's Mehmet Okur hit a layup, but Gasol countered with one at the other end.
Sasha Vujacic's three-pointer jumped in and out, but Gasol grabbed the miss and made the game-sealing dunk to open up a 107-102 advantage with 20 seconds left.
"The game was on the line and we had to bring out everything we had left," Gasol said. "I had to dig for everything inside of me, bring out energy, be effective and make some plays."
Williams led Utah with 27 points with 10 assists. Carlos Boozer collected 18 and 12 rebounds while Okur finished with 13 points and 13 boards.
"I thought we let this one game get away," Boozer said. "Now we have to put all our energy into game six, win that and come back here on Monday and win that game too. It's going to be a task but we are ready for it."
