SALT LAKE CITY — Kobe Bryant has some time to rest his back. Not that he appears to need it.

Bryant scored 34 points, 12 in the fourth quarter, and Los Angeles held off a furious rally by the Utah Jazz for a 108-105 victory last night in Game 6, putting the Lakers in the Western Conference finals for the first time in four years.

It was the only win by the visiting team in the series.

"It's a big step for us," said Bryant, who also had eight rebounds and six assists. "It shows a lot of character on our part to come in here and come out of here with a victory."

Utah trailed by 19 points at halftime and 16 after three quarters, but got within two in the final minute.

"We ran out of gas a little bit in the second half as they played with a frenzy and intensity," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "I had confidence that we'd make the right plays at the end of the game."

The Lakers will host the winner of Monday's Game 7 between San Antonio and New Orleans when the Western Conference finals begin next week.

Whether he needs it or not, Bryant has a few days off as the Lakers wait and see who they play in their first Western Conference finals since 2004.

Bryant said his back was feeling fine, less than a week after it seized up on him early in Game 4 on Sunday when the Jazz tied the series at 2-2. Bryant was OK to play in Game 5 as the Lakers won at home, then yesterday was back to his MVP self.

The Lakers are 8-2 in the playoffs.

"It's been a great journey and we want to keep it rolling," Bryant said. "It's a great accomplishment to get to the conference finals, but we believe we can accomplish much more."

Pau Gasol finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds and teamed up with Lamar Odom to shut down Utah in the lane for most of the first three quarters. Gasol had four blocks and Odom had another as the Lakers flustered the Jazz early and built a lead that was too big for the Jazz to overcome.

Utah was 5 for 8 on 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and had a chance to tie it just before the buzzer, but Mehmet Okur and Deron Williams both missed from beyond the arc in the final seconds and Utah's season was over.

Williams led Utah with 21 points and 14 assists. Carlos Boozer had 12 points and 14 rebounds, and Okur had 16 points and 10 boards, hitting two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter during Utah's comeback.

"The same thing that hurt us in L.A., hurt us again. We had to play from behind and we could never get over the hump," Williams said. "We gave them a little pressure in the second half and they got a little bit frantic. We should have been doing that the whole game."