Denver, CO -- (Sports Network) - Kobe Bryant scored 31 points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished out six assists and took over down the stretch, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 107-101 victory and a four-game sweep of the Denver Nuggets in their Western Conference quarterfinal.

Bryant, the odds-on favorite for the league's MVP award, shot 12-of-24 from the floor and scored 14 in the final quarter, as LA moved on to the second round with its first playoff series victory since 2004. The Lakers will face either Houston or Utah in the second round. Utah currently owns a 3-1 lead in that series, with Game 5 scheduled for Tuesday in Houston.

"It feels good to win the way we won today," Bryant said. "But it's only the first step. I've been fortunate to win three titles, so getting out of the first round is not that big of a step."

Pau Gasol added 21 points and seven rebounds, while Lamar Odom totaled 14 and 12 for Los Angeles, which recovered from a third quarter in which it was outscored 23-15 to remain perfect in the postseason.

"We'll have to be a better team as we go forward," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "We'll have to be better physically around the paint, rebounding, taking care of the basket and the lane. That's one of the things we've improved on in the course of this series."

J.R. Smith led Denver with a playoff-career-high 26 points off the bench, while Allen Iverson scored 22 for the Nuggets, who became the first team in NBA history to win 50 regular-season games but be swept in the first round.

Denver has lost in the first round of the playoffs five straight years while winning only four games in that span, and has not won a postseason series since 1994, when they upset the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics in the first round.

"If we get some type of defense into our game, I think we'll be right there," Iverson said. "I don't think we're far away. It was evident tonight and throughout this whole series that we've got a lot of work to do.

"I've never been swept in my career. It's a bitter feeling, but I don't feel bad about my teammates or my coaching staff. I feel they gave everything they had and put it on the line. You have to accept when guys give it all they have. We just got beat by a better team."

Bryant scored five straight to put the Lakers up 95-90 with four minutes remaining, but Smith buried a deep three from the top of the key, then picked off a cross-court pass and took it the length of the floor. He finished, was fouled by Odom, and completed the three-point play for a 96-95 Nuggets edge.

At the other end Bryant knocked down a jumper with Kenyon Martin guarding him tightly, and after Carmelo Anthony turned the ball over, Denver left Luke Walton wide open in the right corner. Walton drilled a three, making it a 100-96 game with 2:37 left, and the Nuggets called timeout.

Bryant hit a free throw at the 1:19 mark for a five-point margin before Nene deposited an Iverson miss to keep Denver within striking distance on the ensuing possession. But Bryant attacked Nene at the other end of the floor, going right around him and hitting a difficult running bank shot to make it 103-98 with 40 seconds remaining.

Marcus Camby hit his first bucket of the game -- an unlikely three from the left corner -- to give Denver a fighting chance, but as was their downfall all season, the Nuggets scrambled to get back on defense and Odom dished to Gasol for a jam, making it 105-101 with just 22 ticks showing.

Moments later, Bryant stripped Nene and drew a foul, then hit two from the foul line to ice the victory.

Vladimir Radmanovic finished with 12 points and six boards for the Lakers, who shot 46 percent from the floor and pulled out the Game 4 win despite being outrebounded, 50-45, and hitting just 63 percent of their free throws.

Anthony totaled 21 points and 11 rebounds for Denver, while Camby had a game- high 17 boards to go with three points and four blocks. Martin scored eight and grabbed six caroms before fouling out late in the fourth.

LA led 32-23 after one quarter behind 12 points from Gasol, and held a 52-40 cushion around the midway point of the second after a Bryant throwdown. But Denver ripped off a 10-2 run to pull back within 56-50 around the three-minute mark, before heading to the break down 64-54.

Anthony scored in transition just ahead of the six-minute mark in the third, trimming the Lakers lead to 66-63. LA responded with five straight before the Nuggets rattled off 10 straight, capped by Linas Kleiza's jumper, to take their first lead at 73-71 with 2:22 left in the third.

Still, LA was up 79-77 heading to the fourth, and despite beginning the quarter with Bryant and Gasol both on the bench, managed to stretch its advantage to 85-81 by the eight-minute mark.

Once the duo returned Denver scored four in a row to tie the game before Odom's three-point play made it 88-85 with just over six minutes remaining.

Game Notes:

Bryant, an 84 percent foul shooter for the season, made just 4-of-10 from the line...Smith made 9-of-9 free throws and was 3-for-7 from three-point range; the rest of the Nuggets, however, were just 1-of-14 from beyond the arc...LA forced 16 Nuggets turnovers...Iverson picked up a technical foul in the third quarter, giving him four in the series -- the most of any player this postseason.