SAN ANTONIO--The West hasn't been won yet, although the San Antonio Spurs took another giant step yesterday toward doing just that.

With chants of "M-V-P" raining down on Tim Duncan from the largest crowed in the NBA this season, the Spurs played an inspired fourth quarter and defeated Utah 84-78 to prevent the Jazz from clinching the conference.

Now, it's the Spurs who can secure homecourt advantage throughout the postseason by winning their final two games--at Portland on Tuesday and at Golden State on Wednesday.

"This was huge, and winning those last two games will make it really, really big", Duncan said.

Duncan had 26 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots, outplaying Karl Malone down the stretch and showing rare flashes of emotion.

An emphatic dunk by Duncan off a missed shot with 9:06 left elicited a scream from the 7-footer and gave San Antonio its first lead since the first quarter, 67-65. After that, the Spurs never let Utah regain the momentum.

"I'm not dead to the world out there", said the usually stoic Duncan. "I'm trying to play hard, and when things happen that are great for us I get excited about it".

Mario Elie added 15 points, Sean Elliott had 14 and Avery Johnson 12 for the Spurs (35-13), who won the season series from the Jazz 2-1 and thus will have the tiebreaker edge if the teams finish with the same record.

Malone had 24 points and 14 rebounds for Utah (36-13), which has one game remaining--at home against the Los Angeles Clippers.

It was just the fourth time this season that Utah lost a game it led entering the fourth quarter.

"The last couple of years Utah has been strong, but things have changed this year", Elie said. "I'm proud of this team. We finally have mental toughness. There's no panic when we get behind. That's what we need in the playoffs".

Lakers 91, SuperSonics 84

SEATTLE--What the Seattle SuperSonics thought was impossible is happening to them: They are on the verge of playoff elimination.

"I hate to use the term mathematically still alive because that means you're almost dead. But right now it doesn't look good", Sonics guard Hersey Hawkins said.

Led by Shaquille O'Neal's 33 points and 12 rebounds and Kobe Bryant's 28 points, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sonics 91-84 Sunday.