Bryant drilled a clutch 3-pointer late in the game and the Lakers took advantage of Denver’s miscues en route to the win. Kobe finished with 41 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter and sealed the triumph with four free throws in the final 22 ticks.

The Lakers covered as a 3 ½-point underdogs and cashed money-line tickets at a plus-145 (Bet $100 to win $145) price.

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The Nuggets looked like they were going to pull away in the second-half but they fell apart down the stretch, getting outscored 32-18 by the Lakers in the fourth quarter. Prior to Kobe’s closing free throws, Denver had a chance to tie or take the lead but it coughed up the inbound pass for the second time in three games.

Trevor Ariza was the beneficiary in both Game 1 and Game 3. "It was kind of funny," Ariza of his two big steals. "It was pretty much the same thing."

Along with the steal, Ariza added 16 points including some big 3-pointers down the stretch. Pau Gasol was the other Laker in double digits, posting 20 points and 11 boards.

Another thing that has become comical in this series is head coach George Karl’s game-planning down the stretch for Denver. As quickly as people wrote off the Lakers in this series, they shouldn’t forget that coach Phil Jackson owns an all-time record of 42-0 in a best-of-seven series when his team wins Game 1.

While Bryant supplied all the heroics for the Lakers, the Nuggets’ superstars Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups failed to step up in Game 3. The duo were a combined 9-of-28 (32%) from the field and 3-of-14 (21%) from beyond the arc. Anthony finished with 21 points but only three came in the second half, all from the free throw line. Billups closed the loss with 18 and seven assists.

Denver shot only 39 percent from the field as a team but did receive 29 points from its bench, including a 15-point effort from Chris Andersen on 10-of-15 shots. The Birdman was great, but J.R. Smith was off the mark, connecting on just 4-of-15 attempts, including 2-of-10 from downtown. If you take away Andersen’s output, the team shot 33 percent from the field.

The Lakers hit 45 percent of their shots and were also treated to 45 free throw attempts. Once again, Phil Jackson’s team was below par from the stripe, hitting 69 percent of their chances. The Nuggets got to the free throw line 33 times, converting 26.

With the win on Saturday, Los Angeles improved its record as a road underdog to 8-2 this year. Also, the Lakers have now captured seven straight road playoff wins against Denver.

The loss for Denver snapped a 16-game home winning streak for the club. In the playoffs, Denver was 6-0 both SU and ATS against New Orleans and Dallas, winning by an average of 17.5 PPG. One good note for the Nuggets, they haven’t suffered back-to-back losses at home all year.

The oddsmakers in Las Vegas are certainly expecting a sense of urgency on Monday, as they opened Denver as a 4 ½-point home favorite in Game 4.

Total players are shaking their heads in this series and Monday’s number opened as high as 211 at some offshore outfits, but it’s hovering between 208 ½ and 210.

The tempo hasn’t been as fast as most expected and the shooting is certainly off but the numbers have been within reach. The Lakers and Nuggets have both been cold in this series with neither team shooting over 50 percent in any of the three contests. And the free throw misses (16, 16, 19) in each game hasn’t helped either.

The ‘under’ stands at 9-1 in the last 10 head-to-head meetings, including a 3-0 mark in this series. The Lakers have watched the ‘under’ go 11-5 in the postseason, which includes seven straight winning tickets.

Gamblers still believing that the Nuggets can rally and win the series can back the squad from Colorado on an adjusted series price of plus-290 (Bet $100 to win $290).

Monday’s contest will tip at 9:05 p.m. EDT, with ESPN providing national coverage.

Game 5 between the Nuggets and Lakers will be at Staples Center on Wednesday.

Chris David can be reached at cdavid@vegasinsider.com