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Kobe Bryant. A 12-time All-Star. Someone who can score on demand. The king of the game-winning basket. Eventual Hall of Famer. While I am not a big fan of Bryant or the team he plays for, you absolutely have to give him his props as without him, the Los Angeles Lakers would be hard-pressed to go to the playoffs with any regularity.

Bryant made a case for being the big prime-time player Saturday night when the Lakers visited the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center for Game 6 of the Western Conference finals.

While Bryant got his points (37 points), he got some big-time help from Ron Artest as he added 25 while Los Angeles held off a Phoenix rally and punched their ticket to the 2010 NBA Finals with a 111-103 win.

The Lakers were up by as many as 18 late in the second quarter and would outscore the Suns 23-10 over the last eight minutes of the first half to lead 65-53 at the intermission.

Phoenix cut the lead to single-digits only once in the third quarter, 74-65 on an Amare Stoudemire two free throws with 5:38 left in the period; Los Angeles would respond with an 11-2 run, capped by an Artest layup, making it 85-67 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the third.

The Lakers were up by 17 going into the fourth quarter, but the Suns’ bench and Stoudemire got Phoenix back into the game; with Bryant on the bench, the Suns’ Goran Dragic scored the first eight points of the final period to pare Los Angeles’ lead to 91-82 with 10:27 remaining in the game.

Suns coach Alvin Gentry stuck with that lineup, and the run reached 16-4 on Stoudemire’s layup to cut it to 95-90 with 6:09 left. Steve Nash and Jason Richardson re-entered the game at the 3:26 mark with the Lakers up 99-92; Stoudemire made a pair of free throws, then Nash cut it to 99-96 on a layup with 2:19 left to go.

Bryant would respond with a 21-footer, then Lamar Odom would steal Nash’s inbound pass and Bryant made two free throws to increase their lead to 103-96 with 1:43 remaining; four consecutive points by Stoudemire cut Los Angeles’ lead to 100-95 with 53.1 seconds left, but Bryant drained an in-your-face jumper over Grant Hill, sealing the win for the Lakers.

Bryant led all Lakers scorers with a game-high 37 points (including three 3-pointers) with 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals while Artest added 25 (including 4 treys) with 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. Odom, while scoring only 6 points. granned 12 boards.

Stoudemire led the Suns with 27 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks while Nash added 21 with 5 rebounds and 9 assists; Channing Frye notched a double-double, scoring 12 points with 13 rebounds in a losing effort.

Los Angeles, taking the Western Conference finals 4-2, will get a much-deserved rest as they will host the Bsoton Celtics on Thursday night at Staples Center.