Pau Gasol was consumed by determination, holding off Kenneth Faried with one arm and relentlessly tipping the ball at the hoop with the other in the fourth quarter of Game 7. One, two, three, four - five! - offensive rebounds later, the ball finally surrendered and dropped through the hoop. A few minutes later, the truth was as undeniable as that 7-foot Spaniard. Although the Nuggets drove them to the brink of playoff collapse, the Los Angeles Lakers still have the tenacity to win on the biggest nights of the postseason. Even when Kobe Bryant doesn't lead them. Gasol had 23 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots, Metta World Peace scored 15 points in his return from a seven-game suspension, and the Lakers outlasted Denver for a thrilling 96-87 victory Saturday night to win their first-round series. Steve Blake scored a playoff career-high 19 points and Bryant had a quiet 17 points and eight assists against regular double-teams for the Lakers, who blew a 16-point lead in the second half before surviving a finale with wild momentum swings and furious physical play. With Gasol leading the Lakers' emotional effort - exemplified by those five offensive rebounds on a single, unbelievable tip play with 7:10 left - the Lakers narrowly avoided becoming the ninth team in NBA history to blow a 3-1 series lead. Andrew Bynum had 16 points, a career playoff-high 18 rebounds and six blocked shots for Los Angeles, which must open the second round Monday night in Oklahoma City against the second-seeded Thunder. I've never been in a locker room at the end of a season where every guy in front of me, I'm happy with and I'm content with. ... I think their size won over our speed. We gave a great effort. We made them miss enough shots to win, but we just didn't rebound the ball. Game 7 was a barn-burner, with both teams blowing significant leads in the final minutes as this stark clash of styles between the physical Lakers and the speedy Nuggets was resolved in the very last minutes. "It's tough," Lawson said. We played together, and played as a team. Just the way it went down is kind of tough for us. We fought hard and showed a lot of energy. Next year, we're going to be even better.