LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant knew this would happen. No, really.

After the Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers back in February, he found Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony on the court and offered a prediction.

"I told 'Melo, 'I'll see you in the Western Conference finals,' " Bryant said. "I just felt they had all the pieces there, they had the depth, they had the toughness, they had the camaraderie. It's no surprise to me that they're here."

There's always the chance Bryant said the same thing to Brandon Roy or Tim Duncan, but Denver and Anthony should be thrilled to even be mentioned in the same sentence as the West finals.

The Nuggets haven't been this far since 1985, but it's true, their first game against the Lakers in the best-of-seven conference finals is today at Staples Center.

The series hasn't even started, but the comparisons to the Lakers' four-game sweep of the Nuggets in last season's playoffs have already been studied and discarded.

In one sentence: Chauncey Billups wasn't there, Nene was barely present because of a strained groin, and Anthony hadn't evolved into a leader in addition to being one of the game's top scorers.

The Lakers have won 10 of their last 11 against the Nuggets and held Anthony to 14.5 points a game and 32.8 percent shooting while going 3-1 against Denver this season, but the two-time All-Star is averaging 27 points so far in the playoffs.

"The way he's playing now, he's playing exceptionally well," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "We just can't let him sit on shots when he gets hot."

The Lakers weren't so blistering in the West semifinals against Houston, needing seven games to advance even though Yao Ming was lost for the series after sustaining a broken foot in Game 3.

Reserve guards Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar even had words on the bench in Game 7 after Vujacic contended that Farmar didn't pass him the ball, leading Jackson to send a public warning signal after yesterday's practice.

"We're still talking about how to be professional . . . and get the things done that have to get done in a professional way," Jackson said. "We have young players that are still very emotional about their game. Some of them are looking for contracts. These are all things that have to be put aside at this time."