Los Angeles - Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers took a giant step Sunday toward winning the Wild West.

Bryant led a balanced attack with 20 points, and the Lakers spanked the short-handed San Antonio Spurs 106-85 to move atop the wild Western Conference standings.

"It was a game we needed to win, we needed to take care of our business, and that's what we did," said league MVP front-runner Bryant, who turned cheerleader after sitting out the final quarter. "It's a step in the right direction. Now it's time to move on to the next (step)."

The Lakers (56-25) clinched the Pacific Division title and the second seed with a win over the New Orleans Hornets on Friday. Their second-half demolition of the defending champion Spurs moved Los Angeles one-half game ahead of the idle Hornets atop the West.

For the Lakers to win the complicated west and gain home-court advantage through the first three rounds of the playoffs, they must beat the visiting Sacramento Kings in Tuesday night's regular-season finale, while getting some help with losses by other contenders.

"We're excited about the opportunity, and I'm happy about today, woo-hoo, but I hate be a party pooper," Lakers guard Derek Fisher said after scoring 14 points. "All our thoughts and focus right should be on Tuesday night, because 81 games of work goes out the window if you don't win that game."

Lamar Odom had 17 points with 14 rebounds, and Spain's Pau Gasol had 14 points with 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who outscored their guests 53-32 in the second half en route to their seventh win in the last eight games.

"We just came in and were on the same plan to begin the second half," Odom said. "We just had one goal, we wanted to win the game, and we did that."

After playing to a 53-all deadlock at halftime, the Lakers clamped down on both ends of the court. They forced their hosts to shoot 3- of-17 from the floor and outscored the Spurs 26-14 in the third quarter to take a 79-63 cushion into the final frame.

"Our defence got us here," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "It got us some open looks."

Fisher scored 10 points including a pair of three-pointers to fuel a 17-6 run, putting the hosts on top for good, 70-59. Bryant ran off the final seven points of the period, including an exclamation three- pointer at the buzzer, making it 79-67.

With Bryant cheering on his teammates from the bench, the Lakers opened on a game-sealing 16-4 burst that pushed the lead to 95-71.

"They're the best in the West at this point," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Their rhythm is good, everybody knows their roles, they are playing confidently, defence looks very good. They're a heck of a team."

Frenchman Tony Parker led playoff-bound San Antonio (54-26) with 20 points, but just two in the second half. Tim Duncan finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs, who missed the all-around play of Argentine sparkplug Manu Ginobili, out with a left groin strain for the second straight game.

"It was a very important game, and they got the better of us," Duncan said. "We haven't played well in about the last five games. We got to just start playing a little better. We just have got to find a way to make some shots."

Elsewhere:

Detroit Pistons 91, Toronto Raptors 84. Rodney Stuckey scored 10 of his 18 points in the final quarter, and fellow-reserve Jason Maxiell added 14 as the Central Division champion Pistons topped the Raptors for the 10th straight time at home. Chris Bosh had 30 points and 10 rebounds for the visiting Raptors (40-40), who dropped into a seventh-place tie with Philadelphia for the Eastern Conference playoff seeding.

Cleveland Cavaliers 84, Miami Heat 76. Delonte West scored 18 points while Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 14 points with 14 points as the host Cavaliers beat the league-worst Heat (14-66). League top scorer LeBron James collected 13 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in just 35 minutes as the Cavaliers (44-36) moved two games ahead of idle Washington to secure the Eastern Conference fourth seed and home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. (dpa)