LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – The Los Angeles Lakers put  on a fiery fourth-quarter display to grind out a 103-94 victory  over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, the win earning the top  seeds a 3-2 lead in their Western Conference finals series.

All-Star guard Kobe Bryant scored 22 points and reserve  forward Lamar Odom contributed 19, along with 14 rebounds, as  the Lakers maintained homecourt advantage.

“We played well,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson told reporters.

“They still hurt us on the offensive boards, the first half  particularly. But we were aggressive tonight and that was the  best part of it. This Lakers group is really connected.

“They’re driven and they’re motivated to get to where we  were at last year to give us a chance to win,” Jackson added.

The Lakers lost 4-2 to the Boston Celtics in last year’s  NBA championship finals.

Carmelo Anthony poured in a game-high 31 points for the  Nuggets, who led 73-66 late in the third quarter before the  Lakers finally took control at a packed STAPLES Centre.

Spanish forward Pau Gasol recorded a double-double with 14  points and 10 rebounds while guard Derek Fisher and forward  Trevor Ariza each weighed in with 12 points as Los Angeles  outscored their opponents 27-18 in the final period.

“It was a game you just had to work really hard to be able  to get a win and fight through everything,” Gasol said. “We  were able to get back in the game when we were down, get the  lead and really tighten up on defense.

“The defensive effort in the second half was quite

outstanding and we’re going to have to do that if we want to  win the next game or the series, period.”

The best-of-seven series shifts to Denver for Friday’s Game  Six.

POOR START

In front of a capacity crowd, the Lakers made a poor start,  falling 2-8 behind early on before clawing their back to tie  the score at 25-25 after a wildly fluctuating opening quarter.

With Anthony leading the way, the Nuggets led for most of  the second period before Bryant set up Sasha Vujacic for a  three-pointer just before the half-time buzzer to make it  56-56.

Denver continued to control the pace in the third quarter,  Anthony scoring with a two-point jumper and then adding a free  throw to give the Nuggets their biggest lead at 71-64.

However the Lakers again rallied, Odom and Bryant each  pouring in a three-pointer to level the game at 76-76 going  into the final period.

Fired up by a partisan crowd, including Playboy magazine  founder Hugh Hefner, the Lakers displayed increased urgency and  superb defense as they charged ahead 81-76 after an Odom slam  dunk and a free throw.

A Shannon Brown two-point jumper gave Los Angeles an  11-point lead with 8.11 remaining and they maintained control  until the final buzzer.

“I thought we played extremely hard tonight but they won  the basketball game,” Anthony said. “Can’t take nothing away  from them.

“The games that we’ve lost, they had an advantage on the  inside. We just have to have the same intensity on Friday. Go  home, take care of business and come back here.”