NBA: Stoudemire leads Suns past Lakers

PHOENIX - Amar'e Stoudemire answered his critics with an exclamation point. There will be no sweep in the Western Conference finals.

Stoudemire matched his career playoff high with 42 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to power the Phoenix Suns to a 118-109 victory Sunday night that cut the Los Angeles Lakers' lead in the series to two games to one.

"Just being aggressive, really going after it," Stoudemire said. "Tonight I wanted to come out with some aggressiveness and get it going."

The Suns can pull even with a victory at home in Game 4 on Tuesday night.

Phoenix, dominated inside in the first two games, won with its big men and a big advantage at the line.

Robin Lopez, whose 7-foot presence gave the Suns some much-needed toughness inside, scored 20 on 8-of-10 shooting in 31 minutes, by far his most playing time since returning from a back injury at the start of the series. Phoenix made 37 of 42 free throws, 14 of 18 by Stoudemire.

Kobe Bryant had 36 points and 11 assists. Pau Gasol scored 23, but the Lakers didn't get as much help from their supporting cast as they did in the first two games.

L.A. Lakers 32 15 37 25 – 109

Phoenix 29 25 32 32 – 118

   FG   FT   Reb   

L.A. LAKERS Min   M-A   M-A   O-T   A   PF   Pts   

Artest 40:55   4-13   2-2   1-6   0   3   12

Gasol 45:14   11-14   1-2   2-9   2   3   23

Bynum 7:31   1-1   0-1   0-2   0   4   2

Fisher 37:36   6-11   3-3   1-5   3   5   18

Bryant 42:41   13-24   8-8   2-9   11   3   36

Odom 34:56   4-14   2-4   2-6   2   6   10

Brown 19:49   2-7   0-0   1-3   1   3   5

Farmar 10:25   1-3   0-0   0-1   1   1   3

Powell 0:55   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0   0

Totals 240:02   42-87   16-20   9-41   20   28   109

Percentages: FG .483, FT .800. 3-Point Goals: 9-32, .281 (Fisher 3-6, Artest 2-7, Bryant 2-8, Farmar 1-2, Brown 1-5, Odom 0-4). Team Rebounds: 13. Team Turnovers: 17 (16 Pts). Blocked Shots: 6 (Brown 2, Odom 2, Bryant, Gasol). Turnovers: 17 (Bryant 5, Odom 3, Artest 2, Brown 2, Farmar 2, Fisher 2, Gasol). Steals: 4 (Brown, Bryant, Farmar, Fisher). Technical Fouls: Defensive three second, 9:20 second; Coach Jackson, 2:58 second; Fisher, 6:31 third.

   FG   FT   Reb   

PHOENIX Min   M-A   M-A   O-T   A   PF   Pts   

Hill 29:19   1-4   2-2   0-9   3   3   5

Stoudemire 41:49   14-22   14-18   3-11   0   3   42

Lopez 29:49   8-10   4-4   1-3   0   3   20

Nash 37:59   5-10   7-7   0-2   15   2   17

Richardson 36:02   7-15   1-1   0-3   0   2   19

Frye 17:52   0-7   1-1   1-3   0   2   1

Dudley 19:00   1-4   2-2   1-4   0   1   4

Barbosa 11:58   0-4   2-2   0-0   0   3   2

Amundson 6:11   1-2   0-0   3-4   0   1   2

Dragic 10:01   1-4   4-5   1-1   1   1   6

Totals 240:00   38-82   37-42   10-40   19   21   118

Percentages: FG .463, FT .881. 3-Point Goals: 5-20, .250 (Richardson 4-7, Hill 1-1, Nash 0-1, Barbosa 0-2, Dragic 0-2, Dudley 0-2, Frye 0-5). Team Rebounds: 4. Team Turnovers: 7 (11 Pts). Blocked Shots: 2 (Hill, Stoudemire). Turnovers: 7 (Dragic 2, Stoudemire 2, Amundson, Hill, Nash). Steals: 10 (Dudley 3, Hill 3, Dragic, Lopez, Richardson, Stoudemire). Technical Fouls: Lopez, 6:31 third.

A: 18,422 (18,422). T: 2:36. Officials: Monty McCutchen, Eddie F. Rush, Tom Washington.