Picture Gallery (LAT)

May 6 - Denver. Knowing that Kevin Durant and his Oklahoma City Thunder are already waiting for the winner of these series, the Lakers need to close it as soon as possible and they gave a big step forward with a 92-88 win at Denver that makes it 3-1 with a chance to end it at home in two days.

Kobe Bryant led them with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, Pau Gasol added 13, 9 and 6 assists, Andrew Bynum finished with 19 points and the other Lakers made timely contributions including consecutive 3-pointer by Ramon Sessions and Steve Blake in the final minute that broke open an 86 tie and put L.A. ahead for good.

Both teams looked tired and despite not being able to run as much as they like, the Nuggets went to the halftime with a 54-45 lead. but the Lakers used their experience to stay in the game and not repeat the meltdown they had in game 3. They exchanged leads in the third quarter and L.A. never trailed in the fourth after Pau Gasol scored to make it 77-76 with 9:17 remaining. An unexpected contribution of fresh energy from the bench was provided by the seldom used Jordan Hill who in 23 minutes got a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, 7 of them in the offensive end. Hill played just 1 regular season game for the Lakers after being traded from the Rockets in exchange for Derek Fisher.

Danilo Gallinari had 20 points for the Nuggets while Ty Lawson who had 25 points in each of the previous two games, scored just 11 on 5-for-13 shooting.