DENVER -- Kobe Bryant didn't let a stomach bug stop him from playing in Thursday's Game 6 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets, but he might have stayed in bed if he had known what the Nuggets had in store for him.

Denver destroyed the Lakers 113-96 at the Pepsi Center, evening their first-round series at 3-all and setting up a Game 7 on Saturday at Staples Center.

Bryant did all he could, scoring a team-high 31 points on 13-for-23 shooting in 37 minutes, but his effort barely made a dent in the final score, as he checked out with 7:52 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Lakers trailing by 28 points.

"It was tough," Bryant told reporters after the game. "I was just tired, just drained. You just got to try to push through it as much as possible and just play hard, just leave it all out there and get plenty of rest after the game."

Bryant received two bags of intravenous fluids before the game and an additional two at halftime, according to Lakers team spokesman John Black.

The 16-year veteran missed shootaround Thursday morning because of his gastroenteritis and spent the day "sick as a dog," according to a team source. Bryant's stomach symptoms included pain, vomiting and diarrhea.

"My room resembled a scene from 'The Exorcist,' " said Bryant, who added that he didn't know how he came down with the illness.

It was a similar result to the last playoff game Bryant played while battling a stomach flu, 10 years ago in Game 2 of the 2002 Western Conference finals. Bryant performed admirably in that game, scoring 22 points on 9-of-21 shooting, but the Lakers lost to the Sacramento Kings 96-90.