Apr 27, 2007, 5:40 GMT
Los Angeles, CA - Kobe Bryant scored 45 points on 15-of-26 shooting, as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied for a 95-89 victory over Phoenix in Game 3 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.
Kwame Brown scored 19 points for the Lakers, who have won four of their last five Game 3s in the postseason, but still trail this best-of-seven set 2-1. Lamar Odom posted 18 points and 16 rebounds in the win, as the Lakers rallied from a 17-point deficit in the opening quarter.
'We played well, we played aggressive, particularly defensive,' Bryant said. 'That kept us in the ball game. We made a lot of mistakes offensively still, but when you have that hustle, when you play really hard particularly on the defensive end, you still give yourself a chance to win.'
Amare Stoudemire notched 24 points and 10 boards for Phoenix, which has dropped four of its last five Game 3s. Leandro Barbosa scored 20 points off the bench, and Steve Nash had 10 points and 13 assists in the loss.
'They played harder than we did,' Nash said. 'We didn't stick to our game defensively and we weren't very sharp offensively either.'
Game 4 is Sunday afternoon at the Staples Center.
The Lakers dominated the boards, especially on the offensive end with a 19-6 advantage.
'We didn't hit the boards, we didn't get the loose balls. We didn't get all the hustle plays,' Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. 'They were much more aggressive. Officials are going to call it that way also because they're aggressive. It's human nature to do that.'
With the score deadlocked at 89, Odom scored on a layup with 1:45 remaining. Bryant next drained a turnaround jumper from the left wing with 57 seconds left, and Brown rejected a Barbosa layup attempt on the ensuing possession. Bryant then converted a pair of free throws with 20.8 seconds on the clock, capping a 6-0 game-ending Lakers run.
Barbosa missed a trio of three-pointers in the closing seconds.
The Suns blazed out to an early lead by opening the game on an 11-0 run finished by a Stoudemire alley oop dunk with 9:48 remaining.
'They're an explosive team and they jumped on us early,' Bryant said. 'Going back to the timeout I just told the guys 'it's no big deal. They're an explosive team, they're going to do this every once in a while.' The good thing about it is we still have 45 minutes to get back in the game.'
Phoenix expanded to a 31-14 advantage and still led comfortably, 31-17, heading into the second.
LA came out strong to start the second, going on a 23-11 run, sparked by Brown's layup 20 seconds into the stanza to trim the deficit all the way down to a single basket, 42-40. Phoenix managed to keep the Lakers at bay down the stretch for a 51-48 halftime advantage.
LA came out of the locker room on a 10-4 spurt as Odom's layup approaching the midway point gave the Lakers a 58-55 lead. They added a point to their margin down the stretch for a 74-70 lead heading into the fourth.
Game Notes
Phoenix picked up victories in Games 1 and 2 at US Airways Center. In the series opener, Barbosa came off the bench and erupted for 26 points to lead the Suns past the Lakers, 95-87. In Game 2, Barbosa poured in 26 points as the Suns embarrassed the Lakers, 126-98 to take a 2-0 advantage in the series...There is a lot of playoff history between the Lakers and Suns, as these teams have met 10 times in the postseason...Bryant made all 13 of his foul shots.
© 2007 The Sports Network
Game Notes.
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