In the end, the Phoenix Suns had too much speed, too many free throws, and too much talent for the Los Angeles Lakers. The final game was more methodical than magnificent for the high-speed Suns on Wednesday night, a 119-110 victory that clinched the best-of-seven first-round series in five games.

Amare Stoudemire scored 27 points and Shawn Marion added 26, and the Suns overcame an inspired performance by Lamar Odom and a late scoring binge by Kobe Bryant.

The Suns advanced to a Western Conference semifinal matchup with the San Antonio Spurs, who eliminated Denver in five games earlier in the evening. Game 1 of the series is Sunday in Phoenix.

The Lakers never led Wednesday, trailing by 15 points in the second quarter and 16 with 5:52 to go. They kept coming back, but the Suns held them off.

"It was I guess, a fairly comfortable situation," Phoenix's Steve Nash said. "It never got real desperate. We didn't obviously blow them out, but I thought we did a good job. We weren't real sharp, but that's a tough situation. They had nothing to lose. Everyone expects them to be out."

The Lakers were eliminated in the first round for the second straight year and haven't won a playoff series since 2004, when Shaquille O'Neal left Los Angeles. Bryant let it be known after the game that changes must come.

"Do it and do it now," he said. "Personally for me, it's beyond frustration - three years and still being at ground zero. This summer's a big summer. We have to see what direction we want to take as an organization and make those steps and make them now."

Odom, playing the whole series with a hyperextended elbow and torn shoulder cartilage, had a career playoff-high 33 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, but it was Bryant who put the final scare into the Suns.

The NBA scoring champion, after an uneven night, made consecutive 3-pointers to cut what had been a 16-point fourth-quarter lead to 111-106 with 2:53 to play. Marion made a floater, Stoudemire hit one of two free throws, and the Suns came up with two crucial offensive rebounds on a late possession to help put the game away.

"You have to give them credit," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. "They would not die. Kobe would not go down."

Bryant - defended by new father Raja Bell - scored 34 points but was just 13-of-33 from the field. Bell was playing on precious few hours of sleep after spending the night at a hospital, where his wife gave birth to their first child six hours before Wednesday's tipoff.

Nash also struggled, shooting 5-for-15 and committing seven turnovers. He scored 17 points and had 10 assists, four in the decisive fourth-quarter stretch. Stoudemire, 15-of-21 at the foul line, also had 16 rebounds. Marion had 10 boards.

Leandro Barbosa, winner of the NBA's Sixth Man Award, had eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter on two early 3-pointers and a breathless fastbreak layup on a halfcourt pass from Nash.