Denver, CO (My Sportsbook) - 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.

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.

The odds were not in their favor, though, 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 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.