The Suns’ reserves, considered an advantage entering the series but largely ineffective through three games, outscored their Laker counterparts, 54-20. Leandro Barbosa scored 14 on 6-of-8 shooting and Jared Dudley added 11 points. Goran Dragic ran the show at point and had 8 points and eight assists in 18 minutes.
Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 21 points. Steve Nash, playing with a broken nose, had 15 points and eight assists.
Kobe Bryant had 38 points and 10 assists as the reigning champions fought back to lead briefly early in the fourth before the Suns’ backups stole the show.
Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry kept all five reserves in the game for almost the first nine minutes of the final quarter, and they produced an 18-3 run. When Nash reentered with 3:05 to play, those subs — usually playing against the Los Angeles starters — had turned an 87-85 deficit into a 103-94 lead.
“We believe in our bench,’’ Gentry said. “Tonight they played as well as they could play.’’
Frye had made 1-of-21 shots in the series and missed 18 in a row when his second shot of the night, a 3-pointer, finally fell to the roar of the home crowd.
Los Angeles did a much better job against the zone defense than in Game 3, but it wasn’t enough.
Jordan Farmar opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer, his only basket in five shots all night, to give the Lakers an 87-85 lead, but Barbosa responded with a 22-footer to tie it. Lou Amundson scored inside on a pass from Dudley, then Frye sank a 3-pointer and Phoenix led, 92-87. That was the first of three consecutive 3s for Phoenix, the second by Barbosa, and third by Dudley to make it 98-89.
One of Bryant’s trademark scoring streaks kept the Lakers in the game. After not taking a shot until the 2:09 mark of the first quarter, Bryant scored 15 in the second, making seven of his last nine shots, all outside jumpers.
