LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers took sole possession of the Western Conference lead today.

MVP candidate Kobe Bryant had 20 points, five rebounds and five assists before sitting out the fourth quarter, and the Lakers routed the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs 106-85 for their seventh win in eight games.

The Lakers (56-25), who clinched their first Pacific Division championship in four years and at least the No. 3 seed in the West on Friday night, assured themselves of at least a second-place finish in the conference. They're a half-game ahead of New Orleans after beginning the day tied with Hornets for the top spot in the conference.

A victory over visiting Sacramento on Tuesday night in the regular-season finale would put the Lakers in position to be the top seed, giving them homecourt advantage in the first three rounds of the playoffs.

Lamar Odom, the only Los Angeles starter to play in the final period, added 17 points and 14 rebounds before coming out for good with 4:26 remaining. Pau Gasol had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Derek Fisher also scored 14, Jordan Farmar added 11 and Ronny Turiaf scored 10 for the Lakers, who outscored the Spurs 53-32 in the second half.

The Lakers outrebounded San Antonio 51-36 including 31-16 after halftime, and the Spurs shot just 11-of-37 after halftime after going 22-of-24 in the opening 24 minutes.

Tony Parker had 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists to lead San Antonio, but was held to two points after halftime. Tim Duncan added 16 points and 12 rebounds and Ime Udoka scored 14 points for the Spurs (54-26), who lost for just the third time in 13 games.

The Spurs played without leading scorer Manu Ginobili, who missed his second game because of a strained left groin. Robert Horry hasn't played since March 21 because of a bruised left knee. Horry has been a member of seven championship teams — two with Houston, three with the Lakers and two with San Antonio.

"I'm very concerned about Robert," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before the game. "I don't know when we're going to get him back. The knee's really bothering him."

Held to four points in the first half, Fisher scored 10 during a 17-6 run to start the third period, giving the Lakers a 70-59 lead, and the Spurs weren't closer than seven after that.

Bryant scored seven points in the last 2½ minutes of the quarter, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 79-67 entering the final period. The Spurs missed their first seven field goal attempts of the third quarter and wound up going 3-for-17 in the period.

The Lakers put the game away by outscoring the Spurs 19-5 to start the fourth quarter for a 98-72 lead.

Three-pointers by Bryant and Luke Walton gave the Lakers a 47-41 lead, but Parker scored eight points during a 12-6 run to finish the second quarter, tying the game 53-all at halftime.

The Spurs scored the game's first seven points, the Lakers scored the next seven, and neither team led by more than six points after that until the third quarter. Parker had a hand in most of San Antonio's offensive success in the first period with 10 points and four assists, but Los Angeles led 25-23.