Lakers seize West lead

The Los Angeles Lakers took sole possession of the Western Conference lead Sunday. Keeping it might be a different matter, even if they win their only remaining regular-season game.

MVP candidate Kobe Bryant had 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists before sitting out the fourth quarter, and the Lakers routed the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs 106-85 for their seventh win in eight games.

"It was a big game for us," Bryant said. "It was another step in the right direction. Going into the playoffs is all about momentum. Now, we just have to take it up another notch once the playoffs start."

The Lakers (56-25), who clinched their first Pacific Division championship in four years and at least the No. 3 seed in the West on Friday night, need to beat visiting Sacramento on Tuesday night to earn the conference's No. 1 seed.

Should Los Angeles and Houston tie for the conference title, the Rockets get the No. 1 seed because of a 2-1 record against the Lakers. Should the Lakers tie for the conference lead with Houston and New Orleans, the Rockets would be first, the Hornets second and the Lakers third based on how the three teams fared against one another.

"We know we have to win out the sequence, and that there's no definite," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "It's still our responsibility to finish this the right way. And that was our message in the locker room after the game. Fortunately for us, we got some rest, got some guys who had a little bit of time to recover before Tuesday night."

Lamar Odom, the only Los Angeles starter to play in the final period, added 17 points and 14 rebounds before coming out for good with 4:26 remaining. Pau Gasol had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Derek Fisher also scored 14, Jordan Farmar added 11 points and Ronny Turiaf 10 for the Lakers, who outscored the Spurs 53-32 in the second half.

"They're the best in the West at this point," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Their rhythm is good, everybody knows their roles, they are playing confidently, defense looks very good. Heck of a team."

The Lakers outrebounded San Antonio 51-36, including 31-16 after halftime, and the Spurs shot just 11-for-37 after halftime after going 22-for-42 in the opening 24 minutes.

"What a half. We came out and played an exceptional second half," Jackson said. "We were on our heels at the end of the first half, (Tony) Parker was jamming the ball down our throat and we couldn't seem to find a way to stop him. I thought the second half we came out and made a good defensive stand and stopped penetration."

Bryant said he believes the Lakers have found their defensive identity.

"It's just like offense," he said. "You have to find out what your identity is. I think we have found that defensively. We are very aggressive. We have a tremendous amount of versatility -- wings and bigs who are fast and athletic and long. We can get after guys."

Parker had 20 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists but was held to 2 points after halftime. Tim Duncan added 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Ime Udoka scored 14 for the Spurs (54-26), who lost for just the third time in 13 games.

The Spurs played without leading scorer Manu Ginobili, who missed his second game because of a strained left groin. Robert Horry hasn't played since March 21 because of a bruised left knee.

"Come playoff time, we'll have as good a chance as anybody to do well," Popovich said.

Nuggets 111, Rockets 94: Allen Iverson and J.R. Smith put the enigmatic Denver Nuggets on the cusp of the NBA playoffs. Iverson scored 33 points, and Smith sparked the host Nuggets out of their early doldrums with a 23-point performance in Denver's rout of Houston.

All the Nuggets have to do now to reach the playoffs for the fifth straight time is beat lowly Memphis on Wednesday night at home. Denver moved a half-game ahead of Golden State for the eighth and final playoff spot with their rout of the Rockets.

The Warriors need to win at Phoenix on Monday night and beat Seattle on Wednesday to have a chance. But even that won't matter if the Nuggets handle their business against the lottery-bound Grizzlies, who will be playing the second game of a back-to-back against a Denver team that will have had two days off.

Cavaliers 84, Heat 76: Daniel Gibson made a 3-pointer and 3 straight free throws early in the fourth quarter to give host Cleveland some cushion while LeBron James rested, and the Cavaliers moved closer to the East's No. 4 seed with a victory over Miami.

Delonte West scored 18 points, Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 14 and 14 rebounds and James finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists for the Cavaliers, who didn't play well again but had enough to hold off the pathetic Heat.

Pistons 91, Raptors 84: Rodney Stuckey scored 18 points and Jason Maxiell 14 as host Detroit beat Toronto without playing its starters in the fourth quarter.

The loss drops Toronto into a tie with Philadelphia for the Eastern Conference's sixth seed with two games left, although the Raptors have the tiebreaker. The sixth seed will play Orlando in the first round, while the seventh seed faces Detroit.

Sonics 99, Mavericks 95: If this was the end of the Seattle SuperSonics, they went out looking good and well loved. Rookie Kevin Durant scored twice in the final 45 seconds, and the Sonics rallied from a 6-point deficit in the final three minutes to beat Dallas.

It was an impressive home finale for a Seattle team that might be playing in Oklahoma City next season and is putting the finishing touches on the worst record in franchise history.