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Final Score: Utah 110 - LA Lakers 120

Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Kobe Bryant received his MVP trophy and then scored 34 points, as the Lakers remained perfect in this postseason with a 120-110 win over Utah in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series.

Lamar Odom came up huge with 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers, while Derek Fisher scored 22 and Pau Gasol netted 20 in the victory.

"I love you guys so much," Bryant said to the fans during a ceremony before the game. "It's been 11, 12 years, we've still got many more years to go. We're going to play until June!"

After a four-game sweep against Denver in the first round, the Lakers have won the first two games of this series by a combined 21 points. It's their 10th straight win, dating back to the regular season.

Crowned league MVP for the first time in his career, Bryant went 11-of-18 from the field and also had eight rebounds and six assists. The Lakers shot 57.4 percent from the field.

"It was an emotional night for all of us," said Bryant, as he sat during the post-game press conference flanked by his daughters, Natalia and Gianna. "I think we tried to ride that momentum, especially at the start of the game."

Deron Williams scored 25 and had 10 assists for the Jazz. Paul Millsap had a career playoff-best 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Utah has lost consecutive games for the first time since December 28-29 versus the Lakers and Boston.

The Lakers won despite taking 33 less shots than Utah (101-68), but they went 35-of-43 at the foul line, compared to 13-of-16 for the Jazz.

Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Friday night in Salt Lake City.

On Sunday, the Lakers were ahead by 19 points in the third quarter before the Jazz got as close as four with under five minutes remaining, but couldn't sustain the rally. It was a similar scenario in Game 2.

"We were never really at that point where we felt threatened," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "In this ball game we felt the offense was going well and we did things we wanted to do."

After trailing by 14 points in the third, the Jazz pulled within five in the fourth before faltering.

Sasha Vujacic's jumper expanded LA's lead to 95-83 in the opening minute of the fourth, but the Jazz rallied and closed within five as two free throws from Carlos Boozer moved the score to 99-94 with 5:58 remaining.

However, Vujacic nailed a jumper, and after Odom came up with a block, Fisher hit a three from the right corner.

"What we do is we execute," Bryant said. "We understand how to apply pressure offensively."

It was an uphill battle for the Jazz in the final minutes and they failed to come all the way back despite a trio of late three-pointers from Williams.

"We dug ourselves a hole against a good team. You just can't do that," Williams said. "We were sitting there, fighting back, using a lot of energy. You just don't have enough to get over that hump."

Utah had seven players in double figures as Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko each had 14 with both fouling out. Ronnie Brewer scored 12, while Kyle Korver and Boozer each had 10.

"Any time a player gets in foul trouble early like I did tonight it's tough to get into a rhythm," said Boozer, who went 3-of-10 from the field. "By that time, you're pressing a little bit more, you're trying to do whatever you can to help your team win. Sometimes you rush it a little bit."

The final 11 LA points came from the foul line, but the play of the night probably came from Bryant spinning in the lane before firing off a pass to Gasol for a jam, which provided the Lakers with a 109-99 lead with 2:40 remaining.

The Lakers scored 13 straight points during the first quarter to move in front for good. Gasol highlighted the burst with a jam, and Bryant drilled a three- pointer. The flurry finished with three free throws from Bryant, one of which came from a technical foul called on Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. That boosted Los Angeles to a 25-13 lead with 3:38 remaining in the period.

Eight straight LA points ended the quarter for a 33-18 cushion, and the Lakers remained comfortably ahead going into the half. Gasol had 15 points at the break, as LA led 63-49, thanks to an incredible 61 percent shooting mark.

The Lakers saw their advantage cut to 65-57 following a Boozer jumper just over two minutes into the third. However, LA pulled ahead by double digits again and it remained that way until the latter stage of the third when Brewer's bucket pulled Utah within 88-80 with 1 1/2 minutes left.

Fisher and Williams traded three-pointers in the final seconds of the third, as the Lakers were in front, 93-83, going into the fourth.