Why, then, did the forward pass up a three-point try in those final frantic moments when the Jazz were trailing the Lakers by three points on Friday night?

"I dunno," Korver said in a somber Jazz locker room after the 108-105 loss that ended Utah's season. "I probably should have shot it. Ya know, I just didn't."

Korver said he almost pulled the trigger, but saw Sasha Vujacic flying out at him.

"I was spotting up, and they kicked it out to me," he said. "I thought I could have shot a quick one, but I saw [Mehmet Okur] coming up behind me, so I passed it out to Memo. Then I slipped to the corner, and Memo took the shot."

Once again, the Jazz's bench outplayed the Lakers' bench, winning the scoring battle 31-16.

But that's no consolation to Korver, who was 1-for-4 from the field with five points.

"Maybe I should have pump-faked and maybe [Vujacic] would have jumped in the air and I would have got fouled," Korver said. "Or maybe pump fake and take one dribble and I would have had a shot. . . . I will have to think about that one for a while."

He will have the entire offseason.

Led by another phenomenal performance by Paul Millsap - 15 points, eight rebounds - the Jazz reserves helped spur the comeback.

Coach Jerry Sloan started the fourth quarter with Matt Harpring, Millsap and Korver in the game, and Millsap delivered the team's first eight points, and 10 of its first 12.

"I believe any lineup that was in there at the time would have fought back," Millsap said. "Guys didn't want to lose. Guys wanted to keep on playing."

All told, Utah's reserves outplayed their Laker counterparts in five of the six games, and the other one, Game 3 in Salt Lake City, was probably a push.

The Lakers' bench star was a player most Jazz fans were probably not familiar with when the series began. Vujacic had 12 points for the Lakers, including seven in the second quarter when Los Angeles was pulling away.

"We got ourselves in too big of a hole," Korver said.

drew@sltrib.com