The Lakers’ Kobe Bryant tries to shoot over Boston’s P.J. Brown in the first half of Game Five last night in Los Angeles.

MCT / Michael Goulding

LOS ANGELES — After waiting 22 years for another world championship, the Boston Celtics are making their fans wait at least another few days.

The Celtics had their chances to nail down banner No. 17 last night at the Staples Center, but the Los Angeles Lakers weren’t ready to die just yet. The Lakers made all the tough plays in the final few minutes and gutted out a 103-98 victory in Game Five of the NBA Finals.

Boston’s lead in the series is now three games to two. Game Six is on tap tomorrow night back in Boston.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 25 points and Lamar Odom added 20. Pau Gasol played his best game of the series and finished with 19 points and 13 boards.

The Celtics received a monster game from Paul Pierce as the captain poured in a game-high 38 points, but no other teammate came up big. Ray Allen scored 16 points and Kevin Garnett added 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Garnett was dogged by foul trouble all night and didn’t play with his usual aggression. Trailing by two points with 2:31 left, Garnett missed two free-throw chances. Bryant then made two freebies for a 97-93 lead, but Pierce answered with two of his own to make it a two-point game with 1:14 left.

The Celtics got the ball back with a chance to tie, but Bryant sneaked around Pierce and poked the ball away and then ran out for a critical layup to push the lead back to 99-95. When Garnett could not tip in a Allen miss the next time down, the Lakers appeared to be home free.

A wild 3-point shot by Eddie House with 10 seconds left cut L.A.’s lead to 101-98, but Derek Fisher iced the game with two free throws with nine seconds left.

Just like in Game Four, the Celtics began the game poorly and fell behind by 17 points. They trailed by 19 early in the second but roared back to cut the Laker lead to only three at the half. But just enough Bryant and free-throw shooting down the stretch pushed the series back to Boston.

The first quarter ugliness wasn’t quite as bad as Game Four’s, but it was close. The Celts trailed 35-14 on Thursday night and fell behind 39-22 last night. The Lakers shot 65 percent from the floor with Bryant playing his best opening 12 minutes of the series. He spotted up for five open 3-pointers and swished four of them and finished with 15 first-quarter points.

The Celtics were hurt by two early Garnett fouls and an inability to keep the Lakers off the glass as Kendrick Perkins’ absence was felt right away.

The Celtics had no choice but to improve on defense in the second quarter, and that’s what turned the game back in their favor. Doc Rivers chose to slide Pierce over to hopefully slow Bryant and he delivered, as the league MVP missed all four shots he took in nine second-quarter minutes. When no one else picked up the slack, the Lakers shot just 7-for-21 for the quarter, and the Celtics out-scored the home team 30-16 to cut their halftime deficit to 55-52.

Boston actually received a welcome assist from Phil Jackson when the Lakers’ coach decided for some unknown reason to empty his bench in the second quarter. Jackson gave Chris Mihm his first action of the series when he began the quarter in a lineup that also included Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton and Sasha Vujacic. And no Bryant.

After a Farmar layup pushed L.A.’s lead to 41-22, the Celtics went to Pierce and the captain delivered. He breezed past Walton for a layup and scored over Mihm for a hoop and a foul. Another driving score cut the Lakers’ lead to 43-30. Tony Allen, who started the quarter, then scored twice back to back and the lead was in single digits.

That brought Bryant back into the game, but the Celtics kept rolling with Pierce unstoppable off the dribble. He would pile up 16 points in the quarter with the final trio coming on his second 3-point shot with five seconds left. The bucket cut the deficit to a manageable 55-52 at the half.

The second quarter flurry seemingly gave the Celtics all of the game’s momentum and when Ray Allen hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 57-57 and Rajon Rondo canned a 15-footer for a 62-60 lead early in the third quarter, the Celtics appeared on their way. But the Lakers weren’t ready to fold their tents just yet.

Los Angeles closed the quarter on a 19-8 run to lead 79-70 entering the final 12 minutes. Once again Bryant was not a factor as he hit for only one three-point play but the Lakers dug in on defense and held Boston to 18 points on 33 percent shooting. The Lakers held the Celts scoreless over the final 3:04 and built their nine-point lead.

Pierce and Allen combined for four of Boston’s seven third-quarter field goals and the duo cried out for help in the fourth. Garnett wasn’t stepping up and the Lakers went up 88-74 after hoops by Farmar and Luke Walton. But veteran guard Sam Cassell did provide that needed help. He scored seven straight points to spark a 12-2 run that ended with James Posey draining a corner 3-pointer off an off-balance feed from Pierce. That shot cut L.A.’s lead to 90-86 and forced a timeout with 5:28 to play.

The Celts kept charging and wrapped up a 16-2 run with a Garnett jumper that tied the game at 90-90. But in the span of five seconds, both Garnett and Pierce picked up their fifth fouls.

Pct.: FG .429, FT .774. 3-Pt. Goals: 8-22, .364 (R.Allen 3-8, House 2-5, Pierce 2-6, Posey 1-2, Cassell 0-1). Team Rebounds: 14. Team Turnovers: 18 (18 PTS). Blocks: 2 (R.Allen, Rondo). Turnovers: 18 (Pierce 5, Garnett 4, R.Allen 2, House 2, Posey 2, Rondo 2, Cassell). Steals: 6 (Garnett 2, T.Allen, Pierce, Posey, Rondo).Technicals: Allen, 1 second.

Pct.: FG .456, FT .742. 3-Pt. Goals: 8-27, .296 (Bryant 4-9, Odom 1-1, Radmanovic 1-2, Farmar 1-4, Fisher 1-5, Walton 0-1, Vujacic 0-5). Team Rebounds: 11. Team Turnovers: 17 (21 PTS). Blocks: 7 (Odom 4, Gasol 2, Farmar). Turnovers: 17 (Bryant 6, Odom 4, Radmanovic 3, Fisher 2, Mihm, Turiaf). Steals: 11 (Bryant 5, Fisher 2, Farmar, Gasol, Radmanovic, Vujacic).Technicals: Radmanovic, 3 second; Fisher, 1 second.

A: 18,997 (18,997). T: 3:00.

kmcnamar@projo.com