Something about national television agrees with Linas Kleiza.

The swingman scored a career-high 29 points to lead the Nuggets to a 113-86 rout of the Lakers on Thursday night at the Pepsi Center in a game televised by TNT.

It’s the second time this week Kleiza has topped his career high in a nationally televised game. He scored 24 in a Denver win Sunday at Sacramento on ABC.

"I didn’t know who he was when I got here, but a nationally televised game I think a lot of people around the world know who he is now," said Nuggets guard Allen Iverson, acquired Dec. 19 from Philadelphia.

Kleiza shot 10-of-13, including 5-of-6 on three-pointers. Had Kleiza not stumbled to four points Tuesday against Portland, he’d be staring at a possible honor for Western Conference Player of the Week.

"(Iverson) and (forward Carmelo Anthony) were sharing," said Kleiza, referring to Iverson having 13 assists and Anthony five. "You have some games where the ball doesn’t find you. The ball was finding me."

The win moved the Nuggets (32-31) percentage points ahead of the Lakers (33-32) into the No. 6 spot in the Western Conference playoff race. The loss was the Lakers’ seventh straight, the longest skid of coach Phil Jackson’s career.

The Nuggets, who won their third straight game, also got 26 points from Anthony. Iverson scored 14 points but was content to play the role of a distributor.

"We won by 27 points, and I had an off-shooting shooting night and ended up with 14 points," Iverson said. "That just says a lot about what type of team we have. In Philadelphia, if I’d struggled like that, I think there’s no way we’d win."

Guard Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 25 points. He now trails Anthony, the NBA’s top scorer, 29.8 to 29.1.

The Lakers lost despite getting back forwards Lamar Odom and Luke Walton from injuries. Odom had been out since March 2 with a shoulder injury and Walton had been out since Jan. 26 with a sprained ankle.

Nuggets coach George Karl has been lamenting his team’s poor starts in the third quarter, but that wasn’t a problem Thursday. After the score was tied 51-51 at halftime, the Nuggets outscored the Lakers 36-21 in the third quarter for an 87-72 lead.

"I thought the intensity of the game was a playoff attitude," said Karl, who lauded his team’s passing. "This is a compliment but also a criticism. We hit the floor for loose balls more probably in one game than we did all year."

It was the first win by the Nuggets over a team that currently has a winning record since they won Jan. 20 at Houston.

But the way the Lakers are going, they soon might have a losing mark.

"It’s just that we’re coming along, jelling and we’re just playing well, and that’s the biggest thing right now," said Kleiza, who scored 16 points in the first half.

The Nuggets looked a bit tight at the start, falling behind 13-7. They fought back to take a 25-24 lead before trailing 31-30 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, though, the Lakers came out hot. They surged to a 47-36 lead on a tip by Odom with 4:03 left in the quarter.

But the Nuggets had one big run left in them before halftime. They closed the half with a 13-2 spurt.

In addition to taking a slim lead for the No. 6 playoff seed, the Nuggets tied the season series between the teams 1-1, with one game remaining in Denver and one in Los Angeles. The season series could come into play if the teams are tied at the end.

The Nuggets were spurred on by a sellout crowd of 19,155.

"I haven’t seen our arena like that in a long time, especially this season," Anthony said. "To have an atmosphere like that, it felt good. The fans was active the whole game."

ETC.: Center Marcus Camby led the Nuggets with 14 rebounds. ... The Nuggets will honor four local high schools during Saturday’s game. As part of the Excellence in Athletic Training in Colorado High Schools program, the high schools receiving $2,000 awards will be Elizabeth and Horizon and receiving $500 will be Wheat Ridge and Denver East. ... Tight end Daniel Graham, a Thomas Jefferson High School and University of Colorado product who recently signed as a free agent with the Broncos, brought the game ball to center court for the opening tip while fans cheered. ... The Nuggets shot 10-of-15 (66.7 percent, a season-high) from three-point range while the Lakers were 3-of-22 (13.6 percent).

Paul Willis contributed to this story.