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Final Score: San Antonio 85 - LA Lakers 106

Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Kobe Bryant scored 20 points, and Lamar Odom scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the Lakers ripped the Spurs, 106-85, to vault ahead of idle New Orleans for first place in the Western Conference.

The Lakers, who edged New Orleans 107-104 on Friday, took a half-game lead over the Hornets for home-court advantage throughout the conference playoffs. The Lakers have one game left, at Sacramento on Tuesday.

The Hornets have two games remaining, at home against the Clippers on Tuesday, and at Dallas on Wednesday night. The Lakers own the tiebreaker over New Orleans.

Pau Gasol added 14 points and 11 boards for LA, which has won three straight and seven of eight. Derek Fisher also scored 14 points for the Lakers.

Tony Parker scored 20 points and raked in seven rebounds for the Spurs, who have dropped three of five after winning eight straight. Tim Duncan scored 16 points and grabbed 12 boards for San Antonio, which 1 1/2 games back of the Lakers, and a game behind the Hornets for first place in the Southwest Division.

"We came out and played an exceptional second half," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "We were on our heels at the end of the first half. 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."

The Spurs finish with a game at Sacramento on Monday and host Utah on Wednesday.

The Lakers came out of the break and pulled away in the third quarter. A 10-2 push to start the second half opened up an eight-point edge for LA. Gasol scored consecutive baskets to close the burst, the second giving the Lakers a 63-55 lead with 7:02 left in the quarter.

Bryant drained a three-pointer in the final seconds of the frame, giving the Lakers a 79-67 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

LA kept the pressure on, and its lead reached 16 points on a Jordan Farmar layup with 10:01 left. The Lakers pulled away for good with a 12-0 spurt. Ronny Turiaf's alley-oop dunk closed the run, giving LA a commanding 95-71 lead with 5:09 remaining.

The Lakers coasted to the finish line from there.

"The Lakers did a great job playing defense," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "In the second half they really turned up the D. I think we only scored a little over 30 in the second half, so their defense was a big reason for their win tonight. They did a good job."

LA led 25-23 after one quarter, but the Spurs made up the difference in the second quarter, tying the game at 53-53 by intermission.