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Suns aim to even West finals with Lakers

All hope looked lost for the Phoenix Suns after the team
suffered a pair of emphatic losses in Los Angeles during the first two games
of the Western Conference finals.
But, things can change greatly in a week and the Suns now have a chance to
even their set with the reigning NBA champion Lakers if they can capture Game
4 at US Airways Arena tonight.

Home cooking has proved to be the difference so far in the West finals and
Phoenix got back in the series Sunday night when Amare Stoudemire erupted for
a career playoff- high-tying 42 points to go with 11 rebounds, as the Suns
took a 118-109 Game 3 victory over the Lakers.

Phoenix had been abused in the post in losing the first two games in LA, but
Stoudemire's valiant effort, coupled with a 37-of-42 showing from the free
throw line, helped the team cut its series deficit to 2-1.

"We came out with great intensity. It was an important game. We had to get
this one and we played well," Stoudemire said. "I was ready. I wanted to
attack their bigs a little bit and get them into foul trouble."

Robin Lopez put in 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, Jason Richardson added 19
points and Steve Nash contributed his usual 17 points and 15 assists for the
Suns despite suffering a broken nose in the fourth quarter when Derek Fisher
went for a steal.

"We did a good job tonight and now we have to put all of our focus on Tuesday
to try to win another game," Suns head coach Alvin Gentry said.

Kobe Bryant finished with 36 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds for Los
Angeles, which committed 17 turnovers against a confusing Phoenix zone
compared to just seven for the Suns.

"Some of them were bobbled balls, dribbling with a toe out of bounds. Some of
them came from their zone." Bryant said of the giveaways. "We were expecting
them to have a breakout game at some point in this series."

Pau Gasol scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and Fisher netted 18
points for the Lakers, who had their eight-game winning streak broken.

Lamar Odom, after averaging 18 points and 15 rebounds in the first two games
in LA, had 10 and six before fouling out. Andrew Bynum, battling a knee
injury, played an ineffective 7 1/2 minutes, making his lone field goal
attempt but picking up four fouls trying to slow down Stoudemire.

"They attacked the rim and got 42 foul shots. That appeared to be their game
plan," said Lakers head coach Phil Jackson. "We didn't start out the way I
wanted and we didn't finish the right way."

Despite the Phoenix win, the Suns still face an uphill battle in the series.
Jackson-led clubs are 46-0 when winning Game 1 of any playoff series, 35-0
when capturing a 2-0 edge and an astonishing 53-1 when holding a series lead
of any kind.

Nash underwent what was described as a minor reduction on Monday that put
his nose back in place and was able to practice on Monday. The two-time
former MVP will be in the starting lineup tonight.

"I think he's as tough as they come," Gentry said of Nash on Monday. "You saw
what happened in the game last night, he tried to rearrange his own nose. My
wife was in a car accident and broke her nose. It almost made her physically
sick to see him grab his nose and just try to rearrange it himself."

Meanwhile, the oft-injured Bynum, who has struggled since tearing cartilage in
his right knee at the end of the Lakers' quarterfinals series against the
Oklahoma City, refused to blame the injury for his woes.

"No excuses. I feel a little pain, it goes away. I feel a little pain, it goes
away. I just need to play better," Bynum said.

Talk Monday revolved around the Suns' zone defense that was so effective in
Game 3. Jackson remarked that he had never seen an NBA team use the zone so
much since it was legalized in 2001-02, while some members of the Lakers
seemed to infer the philosophy was less than "manly."

"We have to try every way we can to find a situation where we can win," Gentry
said. "Whatever that takes. If we have to play our girlie zone as somebody
said, we'll play our girlie zone."

Phoenix, which has never captured an NBA title, is in the conference finals
for the first time since 2006, when the Suns lost to the Dallas Mavericks.
Phoenix last made it to the NBA Finals in 1993 when they fell in six
games to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls.

The Lakers are appearing in their third straight Western Conference final and
are attempting to become the first repeat league champions since they won
three in a row (2000-02) with teams fueled by Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.

LA won three of four games vs. Phoenix in the regular season and won the
Pacific Division by three games over the Suns.

In the postseason, the clubs have a long and storied history, meeting 11 times
previously dating back to the 1969-70 season. The Lakers have won seven of
those series but the Suns have rebounded to take four of the last five playoff
sets between the two teams after dropping the first six. Phoenix has also
taken the last two postseason matchups between the clubs, first round series
in 2005-06 and '06-07.

LA and Phoenix have met twice previously in the Western Conference finals with
the Lakers winning both, in 1984 and 1989.

Game 5 of the series will be back in LA on Thursday.

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