LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers waited until the third quarter to get going. Once they did, the San Antonio Spurs couldn't stop them.

Bryant scored all but two of his 27 points after halftime, including a go-ahead, 10-foot jumper in the lane with 23.9 seconds remaining, and the Lakers rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat the Spurs, 89-85, last night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

Game 2 will be played tomorrow night before the best-of-seven series shifts to San Antonio for the third and fourth games. The Lakers are 7-0 in the postseason at Staples Center, where they've won 13 straight games overall.

Bryant's jumper put the Lakers ahead for good after two free throws by Manu Ginobili with 1:22 remaining and a follow shot by Tim Duncan with 41 seconds left tied the score at 85. After Bryant put L.A. ahead, Ginobili missed a 3-pointer and Sasha Vujacic made two free throws with 7.3 seconds to go, completing the scoring.

The Lakers outscored the Spurs 24-13 in the fourth quarter, when San Antonio shot 3 for 21, including 1 for 9 from 3-point range.

"We almost gave up home-court advantage to a great effort by the Spurs," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "That was a big comeback. We were deep in the hole, there was no doubt about it. Twenty down and half the quarter gone in the third period. It was a struggle to fight back into the ballgame by the end of the third quarter."

Bryant also had five rebounds and nine assists. Pau Gasol had 19 points and seven rebounds, and Vujacic and Vladimir Radmanovic scored 10 points apiece for the Lakers.

Duncan led the Spurs with 30 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots. Tony Parker added 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, Bruce Bowen scored 12 points, and Ginobili added 10 for the Spurs.

Ginobili shot just 3 for 13, and Jackson credited Vujacic for his defensive work on the Spurs' star.

"Sasha had an assignment out there tonight and he played Ginobili very well," Jackson said. "Offensively, Sasha had a lot better games, but defensively, that was one of his best."

Vujacic played a career playoff-high 31 1/2 minutes.

The Spurs outscored the Lakers 14-2 to start the third quarter for a 65-45 lead, drawing groans from the crowd of 18,997.

"Obviously a difficult loss and we had a great opportunity," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We didn't take advantage of it. Hurts like hell."

The well-rested Lakers hadn't played since Friday, when they beat Utah to advance to the conference finals for the first time in four years. The Spurs advanced by winning at New Orleans three nights later, but their flight to Los Angeles was delayed several hours and they didn't arrive at their hotel in suburban Santa Monica until Tuesday morning around 9 a.m.

Popovich said that had nothing to do with his team's difficulties late in the game.

"They probably wore us down to some degree, I'm sure," he said. "And then, with that, we made very poor decisions. The ball stopped moving. Shots at the end of the clock, no penetration to the rim, all jump shots and they deserve credit for that and they came back and had a hell of a win."

PLAYOFF GLANCE

Best of seven; Hawai'i times

x-if necessary

CONFERENCE FINALS

Tuesday—Boston 88, Detroit 79

Boston leads series 1-0

Yesterday—L.A. Lakers 89, San Antonio 85

L.A. Lakers lead series 1-0

Today—Detroit at Boston, 2:30 p.m.

Tomorrow—San Antonio at L.A. Lakers, 3 p.m.

Saturday—Boston at Detroit, 2:30 p.m.

Sunday—L.A. Lakers at San Antonio, 2:30 p.m.

Monday—Boston at Detroit, 2:30 p.m.

Tuesday—L.A. Lakers at San Antonio, 3 p.m.

x-May 28—Detroit at Boston, 2:30 p.m.

x-May 29—San Antonio at L.A. Lakers, 3 p.m.

x-May 30—Boston at Detroit, 2:30 p.m.

x-May 31—L.A. Lakers at San Antonio, 2:30 p.m.

x-June 1—Detroit at Boston, 2:30 p.m.

x-June 2—San Antonio at L.A. Lakers, 3 p.m.

SAN ANTONIO 27 24 21 13—85

L.A. LAKERS 24 19 22 24—89

SAN ANTONIO—Bowen 5-8 0-0 12, Duncan 12-25 6-10 30, Oberto 2-4 0-1 4, Parker 7-17 4-4 18, Ginobili 3-13 2-2 10, Horry 0-0 0-0 0, Udoka 3-7 0-0 7, Finley 0-5 0-0 0, Thomas 1-2 0-0 2, Barry 1-3 0-0 2, Vaughn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-84 12-17 85.

L.A. LAKERS—Radmanovic 5-5 0-0 10, Odom 3-12 2-4 8, Gasol 9-16 1-1 19, Fisher 1-9 2-2 4, Bryant 11-21 4-4 27, Farmar 2-5 3-3 8, Vujacic 3-8 2-2 10, Walton 0-2 0-0 0, Turiaf 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 35-81 15-18 89.

3-Point Goals—San Antonio 5-20 (Bowen 2-4, Ginobili 2-6, Udoka 1-3, Parker 0-1, Barry 0-1, Finley 0-5), L.A. Lakers 4-10 (Vujacic 2-5, Farmar 1-2, Bryant 1-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—San Antonio 52 (Duncan 18), L.A. Lakers 52 (Odom 8). Assists—San Antonio 16 (Parker 6), L.A. Lakers 18 (Bryant 9). Total Fouls—San Antonio 21, L.A. Lakers 16. A—18,997 (18,997).