Game 2 will be played Wednesday night before the best-of-seven series shifts to Utah for Games 3 and 4.

Word leaked late Friday that Bryant had won his first Most Valuable Player award and he expressed his joy on Saturday. The NBA has declined comment, but Bryant is expected to receive the MVP trophy from commissioner David Stern before Game 2.

The "MVP! MVP!" chants from the capacity crowd of 18,997 at Staples Center began before the opening tip, with the volume increasing significantly when Bryant was introduced with the other Los Angeles starters.

Bryant, who shot 8-for-16 from the field, scored 24 points to help the Lakers take a 54-41 halftime lead, and although they were on top the rest of the way, there were some anxious moments down the stretch.

Pau Gasol added 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, Lamar Odom had 16 points and nine rebounds before fouling out with 45 seconds to play, and Sasha Vujacic scored a career playoff-high 15 for the Lakers.

Forward Luke Walton, who shot 22-for-31 and averaged 14 points in the Lakers' sweep of Denver in the first round, played despite an upper respiratory infection and wasn't at his best, getting five points and three rebounds in 13 minutes.

Mehmet Okur had 21 points and a career playoff-high 19 rebounds for the Jazz. Carlos Boozer had 15 points, 14 rebounds and four assists before fouling out with 3:28 left, and Deron Williams added 14 points, nine assists and nine rebounds.

The Lakers went ahead for good late in the first quarter and led 68-49 early in the third period before the Jazz outscored them 15-3 to get back in the game. It was 91-82 before a 3-pointer by Kyle Korver and a jumper by Brewer made it 91-87 with 4:44 remaining.

That's as close as the Jazz would get.

A basket by Odom and a foul shot by Bryant made it 94-87 with 3:28 to go. The Jazz drew within five points on two free throws by Williams, but three baskets by Gasol in a span of 68 seconds put the game out of reach.

"We were right there, right there, but you use a lot of energy just trying to come back and you can't really get over that hump," Williams said. "That's what happened today."

Williams, who averaged 20.8 points in Utah's first-round victory over Houston, shot just 5-of-18 in this game.

"We missed a lot of easy shots, a lot of open shots that we normally make," he said. "A lot of it was their defense. They pushed us outside further than we wanted to go with our offense."

Derek Fisher, who played with the Jazz last season, guarded Williams for the most part and had a career playoff-high six steals to go with five points and six assists.

"Probably what confused him was how old I am," the 33-year-old Fisher said, laughing. "When he fakes, I don't go for it because I can't react that fast, so I end up stealing it from him."