DENVER — The Denver Nuggets finally gave the Los Angeles Lakers a good fight.

No surrender on this night. No frustration fouls filling up the fourth quarter of another blowout.

No matter. The Lakers dispatched the tempestuous Nuggets anyway.

Kobe Bryant scored 14 of his 31 points over the final 5 1/2 minutes last night, leading the Lakers to a 107-101 victory and a sweep of their first-round series.

"He is unbelievable," Luke Walton said of Bryant, his teammate and one of the MVP favorites. "It's always so comforting knowing you have the best closer in basketball. They were making huge plays down the stretch, but Kobe came right back to do whatever it took: huge plays, steals or an incredible shots like that fadeaway over Kenyon Martin from the top of the key. He wanted it badly tonight and we followed his lead."

Pau Gasol added 21 points in the Lakers' first sweep of a playoff series since whitewashing New Jersey in the 2002 NBA finals, the last time they won it all.

The Nuggets, who lost the first three games by an average of 16 points, became the first 50-win team to ever be swept in the first round of the playoffs.

The Lakers will meet the winner of the Utah-Houston series, which the Jazz lead 3-1, in the Western Conference semifinals.

The Nuggets won 50 games this season for the first time in two decades, and they did it in the power-packed Western Conference. But they were no match for the top-seeded Lakers, who are 25-5 with Gasol in the lineup.

Gasol led the way early, scoring 18 first-half points, and Bryant took over in the waning minutes, scoring nine straight points in every way — a turnaround jumper, a 3-pointer, a driving layup and a 15-foot floater — to give the Lakers a 97-96 lead.

"It feels good to win the way that we won today," Bryant said.

When Walton made a wide-open 3 from the right corner, the Lakers went ahead 100-96 with 2:37 left, and Martin and Carmelo Anthony soon fouled out. Bryant made three free throws and a jumper after that.

Anthony accused his team of quitting in Game 3 and he insisted he wasn't going to let that happen last night. He was right. The Nuggets didn't lay down, even when they fell behind by 13 points in the first half. They stormed back to make it a seesaw game in the second half.

But again, Los Angeles had the answers and sent the Nuggets packing.

"My wish would be that we had four games like tonight and we all could have been happier," said Nuggets coach George Karl.

HAWKS 97, CELTICS 92

ATLANTA — The Boston Celtics were supposed to be resting up by now, getting ready for the next round of the playoffs.

Instead, they're headed back to Beantown all tied up with the lowly Atlanta Hawks, who are starting to believe — really believe — they can shock the world.

Joe Johnson scored 35 points, 20 in the fourth quarter, and Josh Smith added 28 points and seven blocks for Atlanta, which surprised the Celtics to even the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.

"We took care of our home court," Johnson said. "Now we've got to go up to Boston and somehow steal one."

Game 5 is tomorrow in Boston.

The Hawks had the worst record (37-45) of any playoff team, and they certainly played like it in the first two games at Boston, losing them by an average of 21 points. The Celtics, who won an NBA-leading 66 games during the regular season, came South looking to wrap it up.

Now, it's a best-of-three.

"We've got to find ourselves real quick," Boston's Sam Cassell said.

MAGIC 102, RAPTORS 92

ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy saw something different about Dwight Howard heading into the playoffs.

The 22-year-old All-Star, usually the team's biggest jokester, suddenly got serious. So did his already-impressive numbers.

Howard had 21 points, 21 rebounds and three blocks — his third 20-20 game in the series — and the Magic advanced to second round for the first time in 12 years by beating the Toronto Raptors in Game 5.

"There was a different demeanor from him," Van Gundy said of his young center. "Dwight is a fun-loving guy and he likes to fool around. There are a lot of times during the year, not bad, but a lot of times during the year where I've got to try to bring him back to being serious when we're preparing."

The Magic will play the winner of the Detroit-Philadelphia series, which is tied 2-2, in the Eastern Conference semifinals.