For one night at least, Odom and Gasol answered those questions on Jackson's behalf.

The Lakers forced Game 6, to be played Tuesday in Boston, with a 103-98 win over the Celtics on Sunday night at the STAPLES Center. Los Angeles trails 3-2 in the series, but the team has to feel confident with play of their starting big men, who accounted for a combined 39 points, 23 rebounds and 8 assists in Game 5.

"They both did a good job on the boards, and I thought Pau was aggressive, made some real good plays out there," Lakers head coach Phil Jackson said. "Lamar had one of those games in which one of our writers here was questioning his ability to rebound and come back after that kind of a (loss in Game 4) -- what kind of game would we have out of Lamar, but Lamar is very resilient and showed that tonight."

Through the first four games, Gasol averaged 14.5 points and 10 rebounds per game, while Odom averaged 11.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. League MVP Kobe Bryant finished with a team-high 25 points in a must-win Game 5, but the play of his supporting cast in Gasol and Odom helped advance the Lakers' season by at least one more game.

"Pau was terrific," Bryant said. "He was aggressive. I think at both ends of the floor he did a great job. He had a big block at the end of the game, which was big momentum-turner for us."

Gasol, who finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, was particularly effective against the Celtics down low. With center Kendrick Perkins out of the lineup due to a left shoulder injury, Boston was forced to start Leon Powe and quickly used P.J. Brown and Kevin Garnett in that slot. Gasol's play helped Garnett and Brown to incur five fouls apiece, which limited Boston's interior presence on both ends of the floor.

"We tried to be physical with or without [Perkins in the lineup]," Gasol said. "Obviously, he's a bigger presence than the other guys. But we try to be physical. We try to challenge them as much as they challenge us, and obviously Lamar and me, we try to do as good of a job as we can because it's not easy, but we try to be physical, we try to protect our paint, make sure we control the boards and stuff like that."

The Spaniard’s fiery side showed in the second half as he continued to battle with Brown and Garnett on the boards and in the paint. Gasol screamed, “Let’s go!” and pumped his fists after converting a lay-up five minutes into the third quarter and getting Garnett to commit his fourth foul on the play.

With 4:11 remaining in the game, Gasol broke a tie game with a jump hook over Garnett. The Lakers took a 92-90 lead on that shot and never looked back.

Odom, who finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and four blocked shots, helped keep his team together by scoring seven straight points for L.A. in the second quarter. The Lakers held a lead as large as 19 points before closing the first half with a 55-52 lead.

"I tried to stay focused throughout the game," Odom said. "I thought the last game that I played [Game 4], I thought I didn't make enough plays down in the fourth quarter. I just wanted to stay focused, make plays throughout the game.

"You know, I'm really focusing on my jump shot and the way I'm shooting the ball. I feel really good about letting the ball go from anywhere on the court right now. I'm just taking it game by game."

Odom added that he and his teammates will have to continue to help out their leader Bryant on offense if the team wants to reach a Game 7 on Thursday.

"We're not going to beat them if it's not balanced, so it's going to help him free his game up at the end of the game if it's balanced scoring because guys tend to stick with you [on defense] a little bit more when you've been aggressive throughout the game.

"So, I think it's important we stay aggressive throughout the game. He's going to have spots to take over, but yet it's going to help us take shots at the end of the game just from being aggressive throughout the game."

There was a definite sense of desperation and aggression on the part of the Lakers on Sunday. Nobody was ready to end the 2008 season.

"I know I didn't want to see the Celtics celebrating in my home floor with Champagne and all that crap," Gasol said. "I definitely didn't want to see that.

"We played well. We didn't play our best game, but we played our hearts out. We played really hard, and I'm proud of our team tonight."