LOS ANGELES, April 9 (Ticker) -- Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant each scored 22 points as the Los Angeles Lakers extended their home winning streak to 12 games with a physical 112-82 victory over the Utah Jazz.

Los Angeles kept pace with the Sacramento Kings in the race for the top seed in the Western Conference despite O'Neal getting ejected with 5:16 left in the third quarter for elbowing Utah center Jarron Collins while fighting for a loose ball.

"It was a terrible call," Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson said. "There wasn't anything that was with malice or anything that was needful of that."

Collins explained the incident.

NBA TV highlights from Jazz-Lakers: 56k | 300k Shaq was dominant before getting tossed. His team was dominant afterwards. Noah Graham NBAE/Getty Images

"He got position on me, they threw the entry pass in and I just tried to deflect the ball away and there was a little scramble for the ball," he said. "I guess he got frustrated and our arms got tangled up and he just tried to get me off of him. It was probably out of frustration."

Bryant helped pick up the slack despite suffering from a stomach virus.

"He was remarkable," Jackson said. "I wanted him to play remarkably for 30 or 40 minutes instead of for 10. It's just the attentiveness that Kobe all of a sudden steps into a level. Some of it was by design and some of it fell in his hands, but it was good."

"I feel OK," Bryant said. "I had a sore throat this morning but I feel pretty good now."

Before O'Neal was tossed for the third time this season for his second technical, Utah outscored Los Angeles, 23-11, to trim an 18-point deficit to six with 5:33 left in the third. The Jazz moved within, 72-66, with 4:16 to play but the Lakers closed the quarter with a 15-4 run -- capped by a brilliant jumper by Bryant as he was falling out of bounds -- to take a 17-point advantage into the fourth.

"Well we got out there and we were playing with them and we zoned them a couple of times and they missed a couple of shots so we were able to get back into the ballgame with a few possessions there," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "Then when Shaq went out of the ballgame it just look like they went after it. They went out there to win. They went out there to compete and they did a terrific job. That is what you are meant to do when you like to compete. I mean, we looked like a bunch of guys that didn't even like playing basketball."

Los Angeles was 13-of-19 (68 percent) from the floor in the third and recorded an assist on 11 of its 13 converted field goals.

"Well, that was quite a display in the second half," Jackson said. "Obviously, we played a relatively good first half and got mired in one of those Utah situations during the course of the game where it seems like every play down the court ends up in a foul ... Shaq got ejected and we felt we obviously had to step the game up and we were capable of doing that and I was very impressed."

Los Angeles' reserves came through with 48 points, led by Devean George, who scored 16 points, and Robert Horry, who added 14 and 11 rebounds. George, Horry and Brian Shaw scored 21 of the team's 28 points in the second quarter, making 7-of-8 field goals.

"We had to step up in his (O'Neal's) absence and just play and get the lead back up to where it belonged," Bryant said. "A lot of players in the league don't give our teammates enough credit. They think they can't play. They say, `they've got Kobe over there, Shaq over here, they create a lot of open shots for the guys but they really don't give them that respect."

Starting point guard Derek Fisher chipped in 14 points for Los Angeles, which has not lost at the Staples Center since a 109-108 loss to the Boston Celtics on February 19.

The Lakers remained 3 1/3 games behind the league-leading Kings in the battle for first place in the Pacific Division. Los Angeles has four games remaining while Sacramento has five.

"We're trying to get ready for the big dance," George said. "We're just going to have to roll with what seed we get and just put it together. It really doesn't matter. Last year, we didn't have home court, but we didn't lose on the road. I'm not saying we're going to do the same thing again, but we can play on the road and we can pull it together."

Andrei Kirilenko scored 16 points and John Stockton contributed 14 as Utah lost its third straight game. The Jazz remained 1 1/2 games in back of the Seattle SuperSonics for the seventh spot in the West.

"I just thought they had more fight in them then we did," Stockton said. "As a result, they shoot better and rebound better and all those other things."

The Lakers used a 17-3 spurt in the first quarter, turning a 15-8 deficit into a 25-18 lead with 1:01 left.

Shawn finished with 10 points and Samaki Walker pulled down 10 rebounds for Los Angeles, which shot 55 percent (42-of-76) and made a season-high 88.5 percent (23-of-26) of its free throws. The Lakers improved to 18-1 in games in which they shoot 50 percent or higher and are 49-10 when holding foes below 100 points.

Karl Malone, who entered the game averaging 22.7 points and 8.7 rebounds, was held to 12 points and six boards as Utah shot 32 percent (25-of-78) and was outrebounded, 47-38.

Los Angeles won the season series, 3-1.