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In an NBA playoff series that has produced all kinds of twists and turns, personnel losses and comebacks, clutch plays and shooting slumps, the Jazz found the offensive answers they were searching for Sunday night.

Down by seven points in the last seven minutes, the Jazz delivered their first home playoff victory in seven years, winning by seven points. In the process, they guaranteed themselves a Game 6 at home next Friday — and a genuine shot to win this series.

The Jazz's 105-98 win over the Los Angeles Clippers pulled them even after four games of a crazy, entertaining series that may be just getting started.

The way the Jazz were struggling offensively in the second half, nothing suggested what was coming. A phenomenal fourth-quarter scoring spree, started by Joe Johnson and finished by Rodney Hood and Joe Ingles, enabled the Jazz to overcome Gordon Hayward's illness and everything the Clippers threw at them.

As of that 87-80 checkpoint, the Jazz had scored 25 points in the first 17 minutes of the second half. They scored 25 in the game's last seven minutes.

"Our team's been doing this, this year," coach Quin Snyder said afterward.

Snyder didn't miss the irony of how Rudy Gobert and Hayward were the Jazz's biggest stars and steadying forces, and they've been together only briefly in this series.

But in the end Sunday, the Clippers missed "a very great opportunity" to take command, coach Doc Rivers said.

They can blame Johnson, mostly. The veteran forward scored 11 straight Jazz points in the fourth quarter, finishing with 28 points while being guarded by Luc Mbah a Moute at the end — "Joe made tough shots over our best defender," Rivers said.

Much like his buzzer-beating shot in Game 1, Johnson's flurry was well timed. And now it gets interesting. With Gobert returning to play half of Game 4 and Hayward having until Tuesday night to recover from food poisoning, the Jazz may have a personnel advantage going forward, although the Clippers have the home-court edge.

More craziness is sure to ensue before this series is over.

An author recently published a 540-page book about the Curse of the Clippers, whose historic adversity continued Friday with the loss of star forward Blake Griffin to a toe injury. The travails of both teams in this series would make enough material for another book.

Gobert's first appearance in the series after injuring his knee in the opening sequence of Game 1 last weekend in Los Angeles was a welcome sight for the Jazz. Then came Hayward's illness, two days after he scored 40 points in Game 3.

Snyder used Gobert in short segments of the first half and tried to do the same with Hayward, who was able to play only nine minutes. Hayward returned to the locker room midway through the second quarter, done for the evening.

See if you can follow this sequence of events: The Jazz win Game 1, but lose Gobert. The Clippers win Game 2, and the Jazz appear doomed without Gobert. Then the Clippers lose Griffin in the second quarter of Game 3, but rally to win. Gobert's healthy return in Game 4 seemingly gives the Jazz an edge, but then Hayward leaves the building at halftime.

Derrick Favors replaced Gobert down the stretch, and his 17-point effort was vital, after he scored two points in 38 minutes of Game 3. Hood played in place of Hayward in the second half. His 18-point night included two monstrous shots.

The Jazz and their fans deserved a Game 6, at the very least. If the Clippers had won Sunday, they likely would have closed out the series Tuesday in Los Angeles, and who knows? Hayward's next visit to this building may have been as an opponent. Nobody wanted that kind of ending to this season.

In their most recent episode of home playoff success, the Jazz beat Denver in a clinching Game 6 of a first-round series in April 2010. Carlos Boozer and Wesley Matthews led the Jazz in scoring that night, with Deron Williams, Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap doing their parts in the victory.

The Jazz have another group of playoff stars to celebrate now, and they'll be back home for Game 6, guaranteed.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com Twitter: @tribkurt