Denver, CO -- (Sports Network) - Kobe Bryant scored 35 points, and after a hard- fought Western Conference Finals series, the Los Angeles Lakers cruised to a 119-92 victory over Denver behind a remarkable 57.3 percent shooting performance.

Bryant finished 12-of-20 from the floor, hit all nine of his foul shots and handed out 10 assists. LA hit 9-of-16 from three-point range and was a perfect 24-of-24 team shooting at the line in an overall dominant effort to reach the NBA Finals for a second straight season with a 4-2 series win.

"I did a great job using my teammates and they knocked shots down and put the defense into a position where I could play one-on-one a little bit and take advantage of that," Bryant said.

Pau Gasol had 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds with six assists while Lamar Odom followed up a strong Game 5 performance with 20 points. Trevor Ariza scored 17, knocking down 3-of-4 three-point attempts in the first half as LA built a 13-point lead at the break and shot a scintillating 60 percent from the floor over the opening 24 minutes.

The lead only grew in the second half as the Nuggets struggled to find their shot until late, hitting at a 36.8 percent clip at halftime and 43.8 percent overall.

Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points but on just 6-of-17 shooting while J.R. Smith drained four three-pointers en route to 24 points for Denver, which until now had followed a Lakers win in this set with one of its own.

"I don't really know how they did it, but they came here and did it. They found the energy, they found the motivation to come here and close the game, close the series out on our home court," Anthony said. "They couldn't have played any better than what they did tonight. They got production from almost everybody."

The odds were not in the Nuggets' favor as Lakers coach Phil Jackson moved to 50-1 as a coach in playoff series when holding a series lead of any kind. Additionally, LA has not lost a 2-2 best-of-seven series when winning Game 5 since the 1969 NBA Finals vs. Boston, a string of 14 straight series wins.

"The disappointment will linger...sometimes it takes 24 hours, sometimes it takes 24 days, but I think all of us will have a special feeling about the season," Nuggets head coach George Karl said. "Tonight their offensive execution was the best it's been all series. We didn't have a defensive toughness in the game that we have had for the last five games."

The Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals for a 30th time and will await the outcome of the Eastern Conference Finals with Orlando leading Cleveland three games to two. Game 1 of the finals is set for June 4.

"We saved our best game for last here, or maybe we caught our opponent a little bit off stride in tonight's game. But we had the momentum almost from the beginning of the game on," said Jackson. "Tonight was a game where we played at the highest level, shooting the ball well from all spots on the floor."

LA led by five, 25-20, at the end of the first but Denver picked it up to start the second, with Anthony and Smith leading a 12-5 spurt that gained a 31-30 Nuggets lead a little over three minutes in.

However, an Odom hook shot close to midway through gave LA the lead and Derek Fisher followed with a three-pointer. The Lakers ended the half on a 9-1 run and Bryant buried a three-ball before the buzzer for a 53-40 lead.

"He waited until the very end of the first half to exploit his game. And the idea that other guys were creating problems for the Nuggets, they were focused on him, gave him extra opportunities at the end of the half," said Jackson of Bryant's performance. "When he carried us in at the half with that burst of points at the end, it really set the tone for the night...and we were able to go in the second half and kind of feed off of that."

A brief 10-4 surge by the Nuggets early in the third had the hosts within nine, 62-53, on a Kenyon Martin jumper, but LA raced out to a 20-point lead with an ensuing 17-6 stretch. Luke Walton contributed six of those points off the bench while Bryant ended the surge with a jumper and LA entered the fourth up 16, 83-67.

Odom nailed another hook shot to open the fourth and buried a three-pointer from the top of the key on the Lakers' next possession as the lead only continued to grow.

The Nuggets rattled off three straight triples on the other end from Linas Kleiza, Anthony and Smith a short time later but the deficit still stood at 16 with Bryant and co. continuing to connect. Bryant's dunk broke apart the last two Denver threes, and after Anthony followed with a jumper, Bryant cut to the hoop for a finger roll bucket and drilled a three to make it a 101-82 game midway through the fourth.

LA hit all nine of its free throws down the stretch with game already in hand.

"It's a huge win, obviously. Denver, like I said, is a great team and they play even better at home. And for us to come in here and put on the performance we put on gives us a lot of confidence that we can sit, we can look at film and talk about it in practice and then be able to carry it over into the game and execute. I think that shows a lot of maturity," Bryant said.

Game Notes:

The Nuggets were 8-of-19 from three-point range and connected on 20-of-25 free throws...Martin had 13 points while Chauncey Billups scored 10 and dished out nine assists but with a game-high five turnovers for Denver...The Lakers edged Denver in the paint (44-36) and on the glass (38-27)...Walton ended with 10 points...Odom also had eight rebounds while Bryant snagged six caroms...Nene, who played 33 1/2 minutes and scored eight points for Denver, reportedly broke his forearm at some point in the game and will need to wear a splint for 3-4 weeks.