Suns rise once again in the West
PHOENIX - The Phoenix bench finally delivered as advertised, and it could hardly have come at a better time.
PHOENIX - The Phoenix bench finally delivered as advertised, and it could hardly have come at a better time.
Channing Frye broke out of a horrendous shooting slump by making four three-pointers for 14 points, and the Suns pulled away in the fourth quarter for the second game in a row to beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 115-106, on Tuesday night and tie the Western Conference finals at two games apiece.
A series that looked like a Lakers' breeze a week ago is all even heading to Game 5 on Thursday night in Los Angeles.
The Suns reserves, considered an advantage entering the series but largely ineffective through three games, outscored their Lakers counterparts, 54-20. Leandro Barbosa scored 14 on 6-of-8 shooting and Jared Dudley added 11 points. Goran Dragic ran the show at point and had eight points and eight assists in 18 minutes.
Amar'e Stoudemire led Phoenix with 21 points. Steve Nash, playing with a broken nose, had 15 and eight assists.
Kobe Bryant had 38 points and 10 assists as the reigning NBA champions fought back to lead briefly early in the fourth before the Suns backups stole the show.
Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry kept all five reserves in the game for almost the first nine minutes of the final quarter. They produced an 18-3 run, and the Lakers never recovered. When Nash re-entered with 3 minutes, 5 seconds to play, those subs - usually playing against the Los Angeles starters - had turned an 87-85 deficit into a 103-94 lead.
"We believe in our bench," Gentry said. "Tonight they played as well as they could."
Frye had missed 18 shots in a row when his second shot of the night, a three-pointer, finally fell to the roar of the home crowd.
After slugging out a 23-23 first quarter, the Suns erupted for a series-high 41-point second quarter to go up by 64-55 at the half - and the backups led the way.
One of Bryant's trademark scoring tears kept the Lakers in the game. After not taking a shot until the 2:09 mark of the first quarter, Bryant scored 15 in the second, making seven of his last nine shots, all outside jumpers.
L.A. Lakers 23 32 29 22 – 106
Phoenix 23 41 21 30 – 115
FG FT Reb
L.A. LAKERS Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Artest 35:19 6-13 0-0 1-3 1 4 13
Gasol 35:41 6-14 3-5 2-5 3 3 15
Bynum 24:54 6-9 0-0 4-8 1 3 12
Fisher 33:00 4-7 0-0 1-2 2 5 8
Bryant 44:42 15-22 2-4 1-7 10 3 38
Odom 35:25 6-13 2-4 4-10 3 4 15
Walton 2:21 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Brown 13:38 1-7 0-0 0-0 2 0 2
Farmar 15:00 1-5 0-0 0-1 1 1 3
Totals 240:00 45-91 7-13 13-36 25 23 106
Percentages: FG .495, FT .538. 3-Point Goals: 9-28, .321 (Bryant 6-9, Odom 1-3, Farmar 1-4, Artest 1-5, Walton 0-1, Fisher 0-2, Brown 0-4). Team Rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: 7 (4 Pts). Blocked Shots: 7 (Gasol 4, Brown, Bryant, Bynum). Turnovers: 6 (Bryant 2, Bynum 2, Artest, Fisher). Steals: 4 (Fisher 2, Bryant, Odom). Technical Fouls: Defensive three second, 8:56 first.
FG FT Reb
PHOENIX Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Hill 20:14 4-8 0-0 1-4 0 1 8
Stoudemire 31:00 7-14 7-12 5-8 0 2 21
Lopez 12:35 3-10 0-0 4-6 0 0 6
Nash 30:15 3-11 8-9 1-4 8 1 15
Richardson 31:19 4-9 2-2 2-6 2 1 11
Frye 35:25 4-8 2-2 0-6 1 2 14
Dudley 27:46 4-7 0-3 1-6 2 1 11
Dragic 17:45 3-6 2-2 1-4 8 0 8
Amundson 17:00 3-3 1-2 3-7 0 2 7
Barbosa 16:41 6-8 0-0 0-0 2 2 14
Totals 240:00 41-84 22-32 18-51 23 12 115
Percentages: FG .488, FT .688. 3-Point Goals: 11-30, .367 (Frye 4-8, Dudley 3-6, Barbosa 2-4, Richardson 1-3, Nash 1-5, Dragic 0-2, Hill 0-2). Team Rebounds: 12. Team Turnovers: 8 (11 Pts). Blocked Shots: 3 (Amundson, Dudley, Frye). Turnovers: 7 (Barbosa 2, Nash 2, Amundson, Frye, Stoudemire). Steals: 3 (Frye, Nash, Richardson). Technical Fouls: Defensive three second, 2:37 fourth.
A: 18,422 (18,422). T: 2:29. Officials: Dan Crawford, James Capers, Ken Mauer.