But the Nuggets fell 4-2 to the Lakers. After having seized home-court advantage in Game 2 to tie the series 1-1 and having tied the series again at 2-2 after a resounding 19-point home win in Game 4, it was a disappointing ending.

"The disappointment will linger for whatever," said Nuggets coach George Karl after his team was eliminated with a 119-92 loss in Friday's Game 6 at the Pepsi Center. "Sometimes it takes 24 hours. Sometimes it takes 24 days. But I think all of us will have a special feeling about this season."

The Nuggets went 54-28, tied for the best record in the team's 33-year NBA history. They won two playoff series after having been ousted in the first round for five straight seasons.

"Obviously, (Friday) is a tough day in losing," Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups said. "But it's been absolutely the best year I've been a part of outside of winning the championship (with Detroit) in '04. Me coming home, me being a proud Denver kid all of my life."

It was the Nov. 3 acquisition of Billups, a Denver native, that turned around the Nuggets' season. He gave them a true point guard and the leadership they badly needed.

"We came a long way as a team," forward Carmelo Anthony said of the season. "For me, personally, I feel like (it was) a new beginning for me."

LAKERS 119, NUGGETS 92: Guard Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 35 points to lead the Lakers to a series-clinching win over the Nuggets on Friday at the Pepsi Center.

Nuggets coach George Karl then offered up the ultimate in praise.

"I think Jesus would have had trouble covering him," Karl said.

Bryant's heroics gave the Lakers a resounding win in Game 6 of the Western Conference final. Bryant was efficient throughout, scoring 18 points in the first half and 17 in the second.

"That's a compliment," Bryant said of what Karl said. "You know what I mean? It's a tremendous honor, obviously to be viewed that way in terms of being hard to defend offensively."

The Lakers took a 53-40 halftime lead and spent the rest of the game extending it. Los Angeles led by as many as 29 points.

"You can't take away nothing from what the Lakers did," Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony said.

Anthony scored a team-high 25 points, but he shot just 6-for-17 from the field. He said the Lakers were sending bodies at him all night.

The Lakers also got 20 points apiece from forwards Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom.

The Nuggets received 24 points from guard J.R. Smith, who shot 4-for-9 from 3-point range. But no Denver player other than Anthony and Smith scored more than 13.

The game drew a crowd of 20,053, the largest in team history.