Lakers 94, Jazz 92

LOS ANGELES — At the start, it was all about Karl Malone.

Los Angeles Laker teammates Shaquille O'Neal and Gary Payton stood together for the national anthem, each wearing a replica of Malone's No. 11 jersey over their own — an obvious show of solidarity and support for the former Jazz star and current Laker who could not play Sunday night because the NBA suspended him one game for elbowing Dallas Mavericks point guard Steve Nash in the head.

"Of course we missed Karl," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said afterward.

By the end, though, it was all about a couple of guys with nowhere near the star power of most of the Lakers very nearly leading the Jazz to a remarkable, come-from-behind victory over the runaway league leaders.

The Lakers did manage to hang on, beating the Jazz 94-92 with 19 points apiece from O'Neal and fellow all-star Kobe Bryant. L.A. improved to 17-3 in the process, winning for the ninth straight time overall and the 11th time in 11 outings this season at the Staples Center.

But it was two no-name Utah reserve rookies, No. 3 point guard Mo Williams and seldom-used big man Ben Handlogten, who gave Shaq and friends even more of a scare than they bargained for.

"It shows we have heart," said Williams, a 2003 second-round draft choice who left the University of Alabama after two seasons. "It shows we're not afraid of anybody."

But the same cannot be said of the Jazz's starters, head coach Jerry Sloan suggested.

"We had a bunch of guys that just came down to Christmas shop and view the scenes, I guess," Sloan said, "because we didn't come to play.

"We started off the game like we were afraid that somebody's going to touch us," he added. "We couldn't get far enough away from the basket. . . . We were basically afraid."

Williams and 30-year-old Handlogten led the charge as the reserves tried to prove otherwise, and the Jazz, who were down by as many as 21 points five minutes into the third quarter, went ahead by one point at 90-89 with 55.3 seconds to go and again ahead by one at 92-91 with 36.5 remaining.

Handlogten, who played exclusively in the fourth quarter, wound up with a career-high eight rebounds and another eight points in 12 minutes, including the follow layup that made it 90-89.

"He didn't seem to be afraid," Sloan said.

Williams, who finished with a team-high and career-high 16 points, hit the jumper that made it 92-91.

That, though, is when the Lakers buckled down, as Payton drove, then kicked a pass to wide-open Devean George, who nailed a three-pointer from the right side of the court to put L.A. up 94-92 with 24.9 seconds left.