Celtics down Cavaliers to seize 3-2 series lead

BOSTON (Reuters) - The Boston Celtics rallied to a 96-89 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday to take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-final.

Boston's top-seeded counterpart in the Western Conference also surged into a 3-2 lead as the Lakers defeated the Utah Jazz 111-104 in Los Angeles.

Kobe Bryant, despite being bothered by a sore back, led Los Angeles with 26 points, with Lamar Odom adding 22 and Pau Gasol 21 points, including two key hoops after Utah closed to 103-102. Deron Williams paced the Jazz with 27 points.

The Cavaliers, led by 23 first-half points from LeBron James, stormed to a 14-point lead in the second quarter before Boston went on a 14-3 run to reach the intermission trailing only 46-43.

The Celtics outscored Cleveland 29-17 in the third quarter for a 72-63 lead and held on as the Cavs made it close in the final seconds.

Trailing 95-89 with 11.6 seconds left, guard Delonte West failed to inbound the ball within the allotted five seconds for a costly violation that ended Cleveland's hopes.

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 29 points and Kevin Garnett added 26 points and 16 rebounds. James paced the Cavaliers with 35 points.

The series moves to Cleveland on Friday with the top-seeded Celtics looking for their first road win of the playoffs to clinch the conference semi-final.

The winner will meet the Detroit Pistons for a place in the NBA Finals.

The Lakers head to Utah to play the Jazz in Game Six on Friday.

Cleveland coach Mike Brown told reporters that Boston's defensive pressure in the third quarter was the turning point.

SET TONE

"In the third quarter they turned up their aggression and I think that was the difference in the ball game," Brown told reporters.

"In our first three or four possessions in the third quarter we had turnovers and that set the tone for the Celtics, set the tone for the crowd. It was a rough go from there."

Besides saluting Garnett and Pierce, the Cavs coach praised Boston point guard Rajon Rondo, who hit back-to-back three pointers during the Celtics' run to end the first half.

Garnett and James agreed about the role played by Rondo, who had 20 points and dealt out 13 assists -- two more than the Cavs as a team.