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Bryant, Lakers look to even series with Suns

Apr 29, 2007 - 12:41 PM Phoenix at La Lakers 3:30 pm EDT Western Conference First Round Game Four

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- After their face-saving win in Game Three, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers don't want to be a one-win footnote to these 2007 Playoffs.

Bryant and the Lakers look to even their best-of-seven playoff series at two games apiece when they take on the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

Los Angeles beat Phoenix, 95-89, on Friday to avoid falling into a 3-0 hole in this Western Conference first-round matchup. Kobe Bryant scored 45 points and Lamar Odom added 18 and 16 rebounds for the Lakers, who controlled the boards by a 44-35 margin.

Los Angeles also had a 19-6 advantage on the offensive boards, getting itself second chance opportunities and slowing down the Phoenix fast break.

Center Kwame Brown finally stood up to the Suns, recording a season-high 19 points along with six rebounds. He had just 11 points combined in the first two games.

The Lakers withstood a 31-14 start by the Suns to close within three (51-48) at halftime. In fact, Los Angeles held the reigning Pacific Division Champions to just 58 points in the final three quarters, after surrendering 68 in the first half and 58 in the second half of Game Two.

Even with the win in Game Three, history is not on the Lakers' side. Only 11 of 193 teams in NBA history have come back from an 0-2 deficit to be victorious in a best-of-seven series.

Phoenix, which averaged an NBA-leading 110.2 points during the regular season, including scoring at least 100 in 66 of its 82 contests, tallied under 90 points for just the third time in 2006-07. All three of those games have been losses.

Amare Stoudemire had 24 points and Sixth Man of the Year award winner Leandro Barbosa added 20, but two-time MVP Steve Nash tallied only 10 points, down eight from his average in the first two games.

Seven times in club history have the Suns won the first two games of a playoff series, and only once, in the 1995 Western semis vs. Houston (seven games) have they failed to advance to the next round.