May 30 (Bloomberg) -- Kobe Bryant scored 39 points as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat the defending-champion San Antonio Spurs yesterday and advance to the National Basketball Association Finals for the first time since 2004.

Bryant scored 26 of his points in the second half as the Lakers overturned a 17-point second-quarter deficit at the Staples Center in Los Angeles to beat the Spurs 100-92.

``It shows a lot of maturity for a young team to be patient, to not think that the game is over or to try to get it all back in one play,'' Bryant said in a televised post-game press conference. ``We just stuck to it and got the game back.''

Los Angeles advances to the NBA finals for the 29th time in franchise history and the first since 2004, when it lost in five games to the Detroit Pistons. The Lakers will face the winner of the Eastern Conference finals between the Boston Celtics and Pistons. The Celtics have a 3-2 lead and can wrap it up in Detroit with a win tonight. The finals will start June 5.

The Lakers won the last of their 14 NBA championships in 2002, when they took the title for a third straight year.

Pau Gasol added 12 points and 19 rebounds for the Lakers last night, and Lamar Odom had 13 points and 8 rebounds as Los Angeles won the best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series in 5 games.

Tim Duncan had a triple-double with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists to lead San Antonio, while Tony Parker had 23 points.

``They played better than us for a long period of time,'' Parker said. ``Every time we have a good start and have a big lead and can't maintain it.''

Early Spurs Advantage

The Spurs jumped out to a 28-15 advantage after the first quarter and held their biggest lead after Brent Barry hit a 3- pointer a little under two minutes into the second quarter to make it 33-16.

The Lakers, who are 8-0 at the Staples Center in the postseason and haven't lost at home in two months, closed out the first half on a 26-15 run to pull to within 48-42.

San Antonio pushed the lead back up to 10 points at the start of the third quarter.

Bryant hit a 3-pointer with 1:42 remaining in the third to pull Los Angeles to within 60-59, then hit a 10-foot jump shot with 1:10 to go to give the Lakers their first lead since the opening minute.

`Sustained Energy'

``They put us on our heels early in the ball game,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. ``We were able to come back, fortunately, at the end of the first half, and we were able to sustain that energy in the second.''

Bryant hit another 3-pointer on the Lakers' first possession of the fourth quarter to give them a 67-63 lead. The lead extended to seven points before a 3-pointer from Barry and a basket by Parker got the Spurs within two points.

Manu Ginobili missed a 3-pointer that could've given San Antonio the lead before a Bryant jump shot made it 85-81 with 3:33 to play.

The Lakers lead was cut to three after a Duncan free throw before two baskets from Bryant made it 89-82 with 1:47 to play. San Antonio didn't get within five points after that.

Michael Finley finished with 13 points for the Spurs, while Kurt Thomas and Brent Barry both had 11.

To contact the reporter on this story: Larry DiTore in New York at lditore@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 30, 2008 01:27 EDT