SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz had plenty of chances to crumble and nearly did.

They let a 12-point slip away in the last four minutes and faced overtime against league MVP Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Instead of wilting, Utah played its toughest defense of the playoffs and pulled out a 123-115 victory yesterday, tying the Western Conference semifinals 2-2.

The Jazz held the Lakers to two field goals in overtime and went 9-for-9 from the foul line while outscoring the Lakers 15-7.

Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko blocked Bryant twice in overtime and converted a three-point play with 35 seconds remaining to help the Jazz pull away.

Deron Williams had 29 points and 14 assists, while Carlos Boozer scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half and grabbed 12 rebounds. Mehmet Okur added 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Kirilenko finished with 15 points and five blocks — stuffing Bryant twice as the Lakers tried to rally in overtime.

Bryant, who said he was fighting back spasms, finished with 33 points and 10 assists.

Los Angeles helped by sending the Jazz to the foul line 20 more times than the Lakers, who made it worse by missing 11 of 25 foul shots.

Lamar Odom had 26 points and 13 rebounds, and Pau Gasol scored 23 and pulled down 10 boards for the Lakers. Derek Fisher finished with 15 points.

Utah was 40-for-76 (53% ) and had a huge advantage at the foul line, making 37 of 45 free throws. The Jazz reserves also dominated the Lakers’, outscoring them 39-16.

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MAYO MAY HAVE TAKEN GIFTS A former associate of USC freshman guard O.J. Mayo claims the basketball star received thousands of dollars in cash and other gifts from an event promoter over the past four years that would violate NCAA rules, ESPN reported yesterday.

Louis Johnson told ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” that Rodney Guillory, a Los Angeles-based event promoter, gave Mayo about $30,000 and other benefits while he attended high school and his sole season at USC. Mayo has decided to forgo his sophomore year and enter the NBA draft.