National Basketball Association

Lakers' trio doesn't get much support in Game 3

Published May. 24, 2010 5:53 a.m. ET

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Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher did what they could to give the Lakers a chance to win Game 3.

They just didn't get much help from the supporting cast, whose contributions were vital in wins in Games 1 and 2, and Los Angeles lost 118-109 to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night.

Bryant had 36 points, Gasol 23 and Fisher scored 18, but no other player had more than 12.

The Suns made a point of attacking the paint early, mostly with aggressive moves by Amare Stoudemire, which got Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum into early foul trouble.

``He played a little bit too much 1-on-1 tonight,'' Odom said of Stoudemire. ``He won that battle.''

Phoenix's defensive adjustments also bothered the Lakers' supporting cast, which scored 67 of the team's 124 points in Game 2 but had only 31 points Sunday.

``They did a great job of keeping us off balance with the zone,'' reserve guard Shannon Brown said.

Ron Artest shot just 4 of 13 and the Lakers' bench combined for just 18 points.

``We didn't consistently stick with our execution,'' said Artest, who finished with 12 points and six rebounds.

Los Angeles led 90-89 with 8:47 to play after two free throws by Odom, but had two turnovers and committed an offensive foul on three of its next four possessions. The Lakers were outscored 29-19 the rest of the way.

The Suns got Odom and Bynum into early foul trouble, clearing the way for Stoudemire's breakout game in this series. He finished with 42 points and 11 rebounds.

Bynum picked up his third foul with 9:14 to play in the second quarter, and Odom was whistled for his third with just under a minute to go before halftime.

With those two big men out for much of the third, Stoudemire scored 16 points in the quarter. But when the fourth period started, the Lakers were still very much in it, down only 86-84.

Bynum played sparingly in the fourth and just 7 1/2 minutes overall. Coach Phil Jackson said his starting center might not play in Game 4 because his ailing right knee is limiting his effectiveness.

Bynum said the pain is ``all right'' and he doesn't want to sit out the next game.

``It's not going to do anything,'' he said. ``The surgery is going to do something. I don't believe that's going to happen. That's probably more to motivate me, try to get me to play (better).''

Bynum added he didn't feel his injury limited his movement.

``Foul trouble was just they were attacking and I wasn't ready,'' he said.

Odom eventually fouled out with just over 3 minutes to play. The Lakers trailed 102-96 at that point and never got back in it.

Odom, who went for 19 points and 19 rebounds in Game 1, and 17 and 11 in Game 2, finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three turnovers. After having 13 points and seven rebounds in Game 2, Bynum was limited to two points and two rebounds.

Reserves Brown and Jordan Farmar combined for only eight points, 11 fewer than they combined for in each of the first two games.

``We're going to watch the film, see what we did wrong, what we did right and get better,'' Brown said. ``Whether it's the big guys or whether it's the guards, everybody has to come out and play.''

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