LOS ANGELES — It's all even between the Nuggets and Lakers, with Denver's thin air awaiting these two teams in their breathless Western Conference finals showdown.

The Nuggets earned an elusive playoff victory over the Lakers, 106-103 Thursday night to end an 11-game winless streak against Los Angeles in the playoffs dating to 1985.

The best-of-7 series resumes Saturday with Game 3 at Pepsi Center, a mile above sea-level Los Angeles.

"It's tough for me to run up and down that court in the altitude and I'm here all year long," said Carmelo Anthony, who had 34 points and nine rebounds in the win. "It is a factor being 5,280 — that's tough for anybody."

Kobe Bryant had 32 points, including making all 10 of his free throws, Trevor Ariza scored a career playoff-high 20 points and Pau Gasol had 17 points and 17 rebounds for the Lakers, who dropped to 7-2 at Staples Center this postseason.

"They have home court advantage now. Now it's time to go to Denver, see if we can do the same," Bryant said. "We're not the best road team in the NBA for no reason."

The Nuggets rediscovered their toughness in the closing minutes Thursday, an attitude they lacked in Game 1.

They were talking tough, too, fed up with all the hype about the NBA finals being a star-studded showcase for Cleveland's LeBron James and Bryant.

"It's not going to be us and Orlando laying down so those two could play in two weeks. It ain't going to happen," Denver's Kenyon Martin vowed. "I'm going to make sure it don't. Y'all can go home and play `NBA Live' if y'all want to see that matchup."