NBA 2010 Western Conference Finals | LA Lakers Sealed The Series and Going Up Against Boston Celtics For NBA Finals

 

The Lakers will join the Celtics in a Finals matchup of the league's marquee franchises after the Lakers raced past the Suns Saturday night in Phoenix 111-103. L.A. won the Western Conference finals 4-2.

"The challenge is to win a championship," said Kobe Bryant, who scored a game-high 37. "The Celtics are in the way."

The Suns, after two rousing wins in Arizona and a heart-breaking loss in Los Angeles, couldn't quite hang with the Lakers in Game 6.

The weirdest twist of the game was that the Suns invited the mercurial Ron Artest to shoot.

He obliged. Only he surprised everyone by knocking down his perimeter shots.  Artest shot 10-for-16 (4-for-7 on 3-pointers) for 25 points.

"The Lord was with him tonight," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "The basketball gods were on his side."

Bryant shot 12-for-25, hitting clutch jumpers down the stretch, and knocked down 8-for-10 from the line. "We played great defense on him," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "He made tough shot after tough shot.

"I've always thought he was the best player in basketball. I don't think it's even close."

Artest was the wild card, though. His fourth 3-pointer made it 81-67. Moments later, the Lakers led 85-67; the outcome seemed inevitable.

But the Lakers' Sasha Vujacic committed a flagrant foul on fellow Slovenian Goran Dragic. That re-energized a crowd that started out raucous then grew sleepy when the Lakers started to pull away.

On the sideline, Bryant gave Vujacic a heated tongue-lashing. On the floor, Dragic then hit two free throws and two driving layups. That propelled a furious Suns' comeback.

"I thought they were dead in the water at that particular time," Jackson acknowledged.

But, "They were ignited by an incidental play. They jumped into the fray."

With the crowd standing and roaring, the Suns pulled to within 99-96 on a Steve Nash drive with 2:19 left.

Then Bryant knocked down a 21-footer, and -- a short time later, with the Lakers leading 105-100 in the final 40 seconds -- Bryant launched an off-balance 22-footer with the Suns Jared Dudley blanketing him.

He nailed it to seal the Lakers' trip to The Finals. Gentry groaned. Bryant patted him on the rear end.

Artest's stunning sharp-shooting was the biggest reason the Lakers were able to shoot over the Suns' defense, which alternated between zone and man-to-man.

The Lakers hit 10-for-24 on 3-pointers (42 percent) while the Suns shot a modest 9-for-26 (35 percent). The taller Lakers also outrebounded the Suns 41-31.

NBA 2010 Western Conference Finals | Ron Artest Saved LA Lakers to Fetch Game 5 Against Phoenix Suns

 

A very rare occasion where Ron Artest beat the buzzer with a put back shot after boarding Kobe Bryant's miss and the LA Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns 103-101 on Thursday night to advance a 3-2 edge in the Western Conference finals.

Kobe scored 30 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists for the Lakers, but Artest was the unsung hero with just his second goal of the night.

Phoenix Suns’ Jason Richardson made 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left to tie the ball game.

Kobe missed a corner shot, but Artest got the rebound and put the ball back into the goal, luckily went in.

Lakers can finish the series on Game 6 in Phoenix.  Steve Nash had 29 points and 11 assists in a stirring second-half effort for the Suns, who hacked away at Los Angeles' lead throughout the fourth quarter.

Pau Gasol had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who rebounded from consecutive losses in Phoenix with their best defensive performance of the series, forcing 15 turnovers and holding Phoenix to mediocre shooting - yet the Suns came agonizingly close to handing Los Angeles its first home loss of the postseason.

The Lakers improved to 8-0 at home, where they'll play Game 7 on Monday night if the Suns hold serve in a series featuring five wins for the home team.

NBA 2010 Western Conference Finals | Phoenix Suns Equalized the Series with 2-2 Against LA Lakers

 

The Western Conference Finals, now tied, 2-2, returns to Los Angeles for Game 5 on Thursday night. Game 6 will be Saturday night in Phoenix.

Frye and the Suns' reserves were the center of a remarkable sight.

In front of a standing, roaring crowd, they hit 3-pointer after 3-pointer against the Lakers' starters to put the game away.

In all, the Suns' reserves outscored the Lakers' bench by a whopping 54-20.

The leaders were Frye and Leandro Barbosa with 14 points each and Jared  Dudley with 11. The trio hit 9-for-18 on 3-pointers.

With the Suns leading 89-87 early in the final quarter, each of these players nailed a 3-pointer to give the Suns a decisive 98-89 lead with 6:47 left.

"I thought they were great offensively...and I thought they were better defensively," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said.

With these players leading the way, the Suns starters, including stars Amar'e Stoudemire and Steve Nash, were bench-side cheerleaders for the first nine minutes of the final quarter.

"They're so unselfish," Gentry said of his players.

At one point, Gentry was about to replace Barbosa with starter Jason Richardson, but Richardson told Gentry, "He's going great, let's leave him in."

Gentry said, "It's really different than most NBA teams. We're more like a college team."

Frye had hit only 1-for-20 shots in the first three games.

"I told you I was going to continue to shoot, and my teammates believed in me," he said.

The Lakers concentrated on Stoudemire, who scored 42 Sunday but was held to 21 in this game, still enough to lead the Suns.

"Their game plan tonight was to take me out," Stoudemire said.

Nash, playing with a broken nose, shot 3-for-11 for 15 points with eight assists and two turnovers.

NBA 2010 Western Conference | Phoenix Suns Shines Out Over L.A. Lakers in Game 3

 

Amare Stoudamire exploded with 42 points and answered his critics with an exclamation point, and there will be no sweep in the Western Conference finals.

Stoudemire matched his career playoff high with 42 points, 29 in the second half, and grabbed 11 rebounds to power the Phoenix Suns to a 118-109 victory Sunday night that cut the Los Angeles Lakers' lead in the series to 2-1.

The Suns can pull even with a victory at home in Game 4 on Tuesday night.

Phoenix, dominated inside in the first two games, won with its big men, and a big advantage at the free throw line.

Robin Lopez, whose 7-foot presence gave the Suns some much-needed toughness inside, scored 20 on 8-of-10 shooting in 31 minutes, by far his most playing time since returning from a back injury at the start of the series. Phoenix made 37-of-42 free throws, 14 of 18 by Stoudemire. The Lakers were 16 of 20 at the line.

Kobe Bryant had 36 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds. Pau Gasol scored 23 points, but the Lakers didn't get as much help from their supporting cast as they did in the first two games.

 

 

 

 

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NBA 2010 Western Conference I Lakers Has Beaten Suns Twice

 

Kobe Bryant had 21 points and 13 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers split away in the remaining minutes for a 124-112 triumph over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night to claim a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.  Pau Gasol scored 14 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter.

The Lakers sustained unbeaten at home in the postseason despite a much-improved force from the Suns, who lost in the first game by 21 points.

Phoenix tied it heading to the final period of Game 2, but Gasol and Bryant flawlessly led the Lakers to another high-scoring victory.

Game 3 is Sunday night in Phoenix.

NBA 2010 2nd Round Results

 

Western Conference

Phoenix Suns shutdown San Antonio Spurs with a 4-0 sweep.

Los Angeles Lakers knockout Utah Jazz with a 4-0 sweep.

 

Eastern Conference

Boston Celtics closed the hopes of Cleveland Cavaliers, 4-2 Standing

Orlando Magic stopped Atlanta Hawks with 4-0 sweep.