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Lakers face Suns in possible playoff preview

Apr 8, 2007 - 4:56 PM Phoenix (57-19) at LA Lakers (40-36) 3:30 pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Lakers may face the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs again.

The teams meet on Sunday for the third time this season after splitting the first two.

Kobe Bryant missed the first meeting - a season-opening win for the Lakers - and scored 31 points in the Suns' 99-94 victory on March 4.

Last season, the Suns rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to beat the Lakers in seven games.

The Suns (57-19) are the second seed in the Western Conference.

The Lakers (40-36) are tied with Denver (40-36) for the sixth seed.

Kobe Bryant's 16th 40-plus scoring game of the season lifted the Lakers to a 112-109 win over Seattle on Friday. Bryant scored 31 of his 46 points in the second half and Lamar Odom added 20 points and seven assists.

Coach Phil Jackson hopes that the superstar guard's heroics will keep Los Angeles on the right track this time around.

"It all depends upon us winning," Jackson said. "Who likes to back into the playoffs? You want to win. We want to do what we have to do to play ball, so that's why we're playing well, it's not about who else does what. That's important."

The Suns opened March with a six-game winning streak but have gone 7-5 since, including a 103-95 victory over New Orleans on Friday. The win came one night after a 92-85 loss to San Antonio (55-21), which is just two games behind them for the second seed in the West.

The Suns, who lead the NBA in scoring at 110.2 points per game, shot just 39 percent from the field, including 2-of-11 from the arc and dished out 14 assists in that contest.