BRYANT'S AIR BALLS GIVE JAZZ BREATHING ROOM.

Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer

With the game on the line and their season at stake, the Lakers placed their survival in the hands of 18-year-old guard Kobe Bryant.

Bryant air-balled two 3-point shots in overtime - one with 35 seconds left, one with four remaining - that enabled Utah to escape with a 98-93 overtime victory and win the Western Conference semifinal four games to one.

The final sequence proved a fitting conclusion to the Lakers' postseason collapse. It began in Game 4, with coach Del Harris and point guard Nick Van Exel arguing on the bench, and ended Monday with Bryant hoisting the final 3-pointer, as Harris screamed for a timeout.

``I was not aware of the timeout call,'' Bryant said.

Bryant is a fine 3-point shooter and the Lakers' best one-on-one player. But on this night he was 4 of 14 from the field and 0 of 6 from 3-point range. Did the Lakers want their season in his frigid fingers? Were those the shots they wanted to win or lose?

``Oh, definitely,'' Van Exel said.

``He felt he was open, so he shot the ball,'' Eddie Jones said. ``If you're open, you're supposed to shoot it.''

Shaquille O'Neal, the wise man of 25, consoled Bryant.

``He told me to keep my head up, work hard over the summer and remember this game so I can come back next year with a vengeance,'' Bryant said.

Bryant scored 11 points in 29 minutes, his extended playing time the result of a sprained wrist that prevented veteran Byron Scott from participating.

In five games against Utah, Bryant made 4 of 19 shots from 3-point range.

``(The game-winner) is something you always dream about in the backyard,'' he said. ``This is the first game I've lost like that. You always win on the playground when you're by yourself. I'm a little sad, a little empty.''

Bryant did not deflect blame for the loss. Nor did O'Neal (23 points). But the Lakers are home for the summer because power forward Elden Campbell continued his snooze through the semifinals.

After scoring three points in the Game 4 loss, Campbell made 1 of 13 shots and finished with six points in Game 5.

``I felt bad for him,'' Van Exel said. ``It's tough when you're dealing with confidence. I've had the same thing happen to me. But of all the people on this team, I think `E' gets screwed the most by the refs. A lot of time he gets fouled and it's never called, and that wears on you.''

Campbell's offensive troubles enabled Utah forward Karl Malone to preserve his energy for offense. In five games, Malone outscored Campbell 143-39.

``Our game plan every game is to get Elden involved to the point Malone has to play (defense),'' Harris said. ``But that hasn't materialized much. We've talked about that, but it hasn't worked out well for us.''

Jones also underperformed against Utah, averaging just 10.2 points per game - seven under his regular-season average.

Monday night, he was 4 of 14 from the field while playing small forward after Robert Horry was ejected in the third quarter for shoving Jeff Hornacek.

``People ask, `What happened to Eddie?' What happened to Elden?' '' Harris said before tipoff. ``During the season, quite often good players go two or three games and don't have good games. But you don't think much of it. In the playoffs, if you have a couple of bad games in a row, because of the attention and the immediacy and the importance, it's a slump.''