By BOB BAUM

Posted Dec 28 2009 11:58PM

PHOENIX(AP) Amare Stoudemire scored 26 points, Jared Dudley matched his career best with 19 and the Phoenix Suns sent the Los Angeles Lakers to their second loss in three games with a surprising 118-103 rout on Monday night.

Kobe Bryant scored 34 for the Lakers but sat out the final 7:50 when the game was deemed out of reach by coach Phil Jackson.

Steve Nash had 16 points and 13 assists and the Suns' reserves outscored their Los Angeles counterparts 52-31.

Phoenix led by as many as 12 in the second quarter, 19 in the third and 22 in the fourth to improve to 12-2 at home.

The Lakers were without Ron Artest for the second game in a row. He sustained a concussion and an injured elbow in a fall at his house on Christmas Day.

The margin matched the 15-point victory Cleveland had over the Lakers in Los Angeles three games ago. Only a late spurt kept it from being the most one-sided loss of the season for the reigning NBA champs.

Los Angeles' lone win in the last three came in double overtime two nights ago in Sacramento.

Channing Frye had 14 points and a season-high 11 rebounds for the Suns, who fought the much bigger Lakers to a 43-43 standoff on the boards.

The Lakers, playing the third of four games in five days, trailed virtually all night. Leading 56-50 at the half, Phoenix used a 17-4 outburst to go up 87-68 on the first of Dudley's three 3-pointers without a miss.

Nash and Jason Richardson also had 3s in the run, while Stoudemire scored four, including a driving dunk.

Bryant scored nine straight Lakers points, but his driving layup at third-quarter buzzer was blocked by Robin Lopez, and the Suns led 89-77 entering the fourth.

Dudley and Goran Dragic sank consecutive 3s and Phoenix led 108-89 with 6:51. By then, Bryant had sat down for good.

Coach Alvin Gentry, taking no chances, reinserted Nash and Stoudemire in the lineup with 4:54 left and Phoenix leading 110-94. Stoudemire had a three-point play and Nash made a 3-pointer to give the Suns a 116-94 lead with 3:27 left.

A 12-0 run at the end of the first quarter and start of the second put Phoenix ahead 32-23 on Leandro Barbosa's two free throws with 10:53 left in the half. Two more at the line by Barbosa gave the Suns their biggest lead of the first half at 39-27 with 8:13 to go.

Bryant's 3-pointer, followed by his 15-footer cut it to 48-45 with 2:09 left in the half. Stoudemire scored the next six for the Suns, and after Bryant's driving layup with 9.5 seconds left made it 54-51, Nash sank two free throws with 2.7 remaining to put the Suns up 56-51 at the break.

NOTES: Jackson said he is hopeful Artest will rejoin the team against Golden State Tuesday in Los Angeles. ... The Suns lost to the Lakers in Los Angeles by 19 and 21 points. Phoenix was in the second of back-to-back games in both contests. ... Phoenix has a victory over the teams with the three best records in the league - the Lakers, Boston and Orlando.

Copyright 2009 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

LOS ANGELES HEAD COACH PHIL JACKSON

(On Tonight’s Game)

“We had a good first quarter going on out there. We played the game we wanted to play. They scored the last two or three times they had the ball and took the lead at the end of the quarter. The second quarter got away from us. They had a 31 point quarter. How many foul shots did we give up, 15? You can’t do that to this team, this is a jump shooting team that averages 20 foul shots a night and they had 20 in the half.

The third quarter, the starters didn’t stay focused with what they had to do. I wasn’t comfortable with my starters or my bench. I didn’t like either group. Guys didn’t play right, we had the inside game going for us but we didn’t attack. Theirs is just a screen and role game they’re playing, a different game entirely. They read the court right, they made the better passes. They didn’t shoot the three that well in the course of the game until Dudley hit some. There’s some things that were unique to the game and you have to give it to their bench for picking them up.”

LOS ANGELES GUARD KOBE BRYANT 34 POINTS | 7 REBOUNDS

(On Tonight’s Game)

“They played much better than we did in a nutshell. That’s all it was. They executed very well in transition, we didn’t get back and it gave them a lot of easy opportunities and that broke the game open.

There was a little confusion on the rotations and if you have a second of doubt, not being sure about where you’re going, they’re going to make you pay. That’s what they did.”

(On the difference between tonight and the first two meetings)

“It was just execution. We just beat the (expletive) out of them the first two times and they returned the favor. It’s about execution and they executed extremely well and we didn’t defensively and that was the difference.”

LOS ANGELES CENTER ANDREW BYNUM 14 POINTS | 9 REBOUNDS

(On Tonight’s Game)

“They swung the ball, they knocked down all the open shots. We just had to play better D. They were wide open threes, the majority of them. They’re an NBA team, they’re a pro team and they’re going to hit those. It’s all of our fault, defensively we just weren’t there. We weren’t connected, everybody was doing something different. Sometimes we’d switch, sometimes not. It was just careless.”

PHOENIX HEAD COACH ALVIN GENTRY

(Opening statement)

“We are really pleased to get a win against that team. They are the best team in the league and they are proving it with the way they play. I thought we played with so much energy, and did a great job defensively. Even when you think you did a great job on him (Bryant), the guy still goes for 34 (points). I thought J-Rich (Richardson) played him probably about as well as you could play. The guy-- I don’t even know how to start to describe him. A couple of times we had great defensive plays on him but he just switched to his left hand and shot a jump shot with his left hand. I don’t know how you can defend that. I thought overall we did a great job. Obviously we are really pleased with the points in the paint. We still remember the 75 (points in the paint) they got on us in the first game. We’ve done such a good job in the last two games against them at keeping the points in the paint down. I thought offensively we had a good rhythm to our game and what we were trying to do. We got them spread out a little bit where Amar’e became effective because Steve (Nash) shot the ball early on and they had to move up a little on him. We also did a good job getting Channing (Frye) on the weak side, and he made just enough shots to keep us going. If I was going to give a game ball to anyone I’d have to say our bench did about the best job they have done all year. Jared (Dudley) did a great job for us. Goran (Dragic) is growing everyday. He played with so much confidence tonight it really helped us out. Robin (Lopez) gave us great minutes. Lou (Amundson) came in and gave us some great activity. We are really pleased, but as I said before this game, It’s one win against a really quality team but that’s all it is: one win.”

PHOENIX FORWARD AMAR’E STOUDEMIRE 26 POINTS | 6 REBOUNDS

(On how big of win)

“Big win for us I think definitely. Coming off a couple of tough losses, tonight was a big momentum change and a good confidence builder for us.”

(On defensive energy)

“I think that tonight we were very focused. We had a day off to rest and we were able to come in a bit earlier this morning to shoot around and discuss tonight’s strategy; and we played well tonight.”

(On taking the elbow shot)

“The jump shot was open out there tonight and I was able to get it going early. My teammates kept looking for me out there so I was able to knock down the open shots to get us going out there; but the second unit came in and played great. They were able to give us that spark off the bench.”

PHOENIX FORWARD JARED DUDLEY 19 POINTS | 7 REBOUNDS

(On defensive energy compared to Golden State)

“Well for one the crowd was huge; the crowd sold out. The electricity (I was talking about this before the game) was definitely a different feeling out there. I thought defensively we came out and rebounded pretty well. For the most part our intensity was good. Most teams jump on us the first quarter but that didn’t happen tonight.”

By MATT BEARDMORE

Posted Dec 27 2009 4:00PM

Kobe Bryant has had plenty of high-scoring games lately. The Los Angeles Lakers haven't needed one from him to easily handle the Phoenix Suns this season.

Bryant and the Lakers look to win for the third time in as many meetings with their only threat in the Pacific Division as they visit Phoenix on Monday.

Bryant is averaging 38.0 points in his last three games at US Airways Center and had 49 in the Lakers' last visit, a 118-111 loss March 1. He didn't score more than 30 in either meeting with the Suns this season but Los Angeles rolled to home victories in both, winning by a combined 39 points.

Among the league leaders with 29.8 points per game, Bryant is averaging 35.9 over the last seven as the Lakers have gone 6-1.

He scored 38 in Saturday's 112-103 double-overtime victory at Sacramento. After straining his right elbow late in the third quarter and missing all four of his shots in the fourth, Bryant hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the second overtime as the Western Conference-leading Lakers (24-5) won for the 17th time in 19 games.

"My arm went numb and it spazzed up," Bryant said. "My moment came for me to step up (in the second overtime)."

Bryant is expected to play Monday against the Suns (19-12), the only other Pacific team with a winning record.

Phoenix is looking to rebound from its third loss in four games, falling 132-127 at Golden State on Saturday after committing 21 turnovers.

"You give up 132 points, you're not guarding anybody," coach Alvin Gentry said after his team fell to 5-9 in December. "We had guys that played well ... but the bottom line is that they played harder than we did. We won't beat anybody in the Pac-10 if we turn it over for 35 points."

Phoenix's last four opponents are averaging 112.8 points and shooting 49.1 percent from field.

Los Angeles shot a season-high 57.6 percent in a 121-102 victory over the Suns on Nov. 12. Phoenix shot a season-worst 36.5 percent in that matchup and was held to its lowest point total of the season in the most recent meeting, a 108-88 loss on Dec. 6.

That matchup saw Ron Artest have one of his best games of the season with 15 points, five assists and five steals while guarding Amare Stoudemire.

Artest, though, could miss his second straight game Monday after falling down a set of stairs, suffering a concussion and injuring his left elbow at his home Christmas night.

Stoudemire probably wouldn't mind if Artest waited another game to return. The Suns forward, who leads the team with 20.1 points per game, will try to get back on track after fouling out with nine points and seven rebounds Saturday.

Steve Nash, who leads the NBA with 11.2 assists per game, scored a season-high 36 points with nine assists versus the Warriors. Since the start of last season, the Suns are 3-7 when the two-time MVP scores more than 25.
Phoenix's only win over Los Angeles in the last seven meetings came when Nash sat out with an ankle injury.
Pau Gasol posted his ninth double-double in 10 games Saturday with 24 points and 10 points. He had 30 points and seven boards in the Lakers' last visit to Phoenix.

Copyright 2009 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Ron Artest (laceration to head and left elbow) is doubtful.
Kobe Bryant (avulsion fracture, right index finger/strained right elbow) is probable.
Luke Walton (pinched nerve, back) is out.

None

SEASON & SERIES NOTES; CONNECTIONS
The Lakers lead their current season series with Phoenix 2-0 after having won each of the previous two season series with the Suns by a 3-1 margin. The Lakers series victory in 2007-08 snapped a run of three consecutive losing seasons to the Suns from 2004-07. This will be the 212th meeting between the two teams with the Lakers leading the all-time series 124-87. The Lakers are 16-6 against the Suns all-time at STAPLES Center and 7-3 in their last 10 regular season home games against Phoenix. On the road, the Lakers have gone 3-7 in their last 10 regular season visits to Phoenix but have won three of their last four at US Airways Center. Under head coach Phil Jackson, the Lakers are 25-13 against the Suns during the regular season. In 47 career games against the Suns including 40 starts, Kobe Bryant is averaging 25.7 points. On February 20, 2008 at Phoenix, surpassed 1,000 career points against the Suns. Last season, Bryant shared MVP honors with Shaquille O’Neal at the NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix. Additionally, last season, the Lakers defeated the Suns by 26 points 2/26/09 at STAPLES Center. The 26-point margin of victory was the Lakers largest over the Suns since January 4, 2002 when Los Angeles defeated Phoenix 118-86 at STAPLES Center. Suns forward Jared Dudley was a teammate in Charlotte with both Shannon Brown and Adam Morrison while Lakers forward Luke Walton and Suns center Channing Frye were teammates at Arizona for two seasons (2001-02, 2002-03). Also, Suns assistant coach Bill Cartwright won three championships as a center for Phil Jackson’s Bulls from 1990- 92 and served as an assistant coach under Jackson from 1996-98 when the Bulls won their final two championships of the 90’s.

WORKING OVERTIME
The Lakers 112-103 double-overtime win at Sacramento December 26th was the team’s 4th overtime contest of the season, and first double-overtime game since 1/27/09 vs. Charlotte. The Lakers are now 4-0 in overtime games this season, after going 2-1 in three overtime games last season and 4-0 in four overtime games during the 2007- 08 season. During the 2006-07 season, the Lakers’ 10 overtime contests established a new Los Angeles era record for overtime games in a single season. With their overtime win against Sacramento, the Lakers all-time overtime record is now 131-89 (.595)

BRYANT NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR 26th TIME , PASSES JORDAN FOR MOST POW AWARDS ALL-TIME
After three Western Conference Player of the Week awards in each of the past two seasons, Kobe Bryant earned his SECOND WC Player of the week award this season for games played Monday, December 14 through Sunday, December 20. The award is the 26th of Bryant’s career (24 Western Conference POW, 2 NBA POW), tying Michael Jordan (23 NBA POW, 2 Eastern Conference POW) for the most Player of the Week Awards all-time while further surpassing Magic Johnson’s 18 NBA POW awards as the franchise’s all-time leader. Jordan and Johnson, however, earned the majority/all of their Player of the Week nods before the award was separated by Conference prior to the 2001-02 season. Since the Player of the Week was separated by Conference, Bryant’s 24 awards rank first among all players, three ahead of LeBron James (21).

Bryant led the Lakers to a 4-0 week, which included wins over the Bulls, Bucks, Nets and Pistons, averaging 34.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.50 steals. During the week, Bryant recorded his 5th 40-point game of the season with 42 points 12/15 at Chicago, scored 39 points including a game-winning buzzer beater in overtime 12/16 at Milwaukee, posted a double-double with 29 points, 10 rebounds and five assists 12/19 at New Jersey and totaled 28 points, four assists and five steals 12/20 at Detroit; all while playing with an avulsion fracture to his right index finger.

This is the 24th time Bryant has earned Player of the Week honors (11/4/01, 1/20/02, 11/3/02, 12/8/02, 1/12/03, 2/2/03, 2/23/03, 2/17/04, 3/22/04, 11/13/05, 12/18/05, 12/25/05, 1/22/06, 4/16/06, 3/18/07, 3/25/07, 1/13/08, 3/2/08, 4/6/08, 12/28/08, 1/11/09, 3/15/09, 11/22/09, 12/20/09) since the award was separated by Conference. He has twice earned NBA Player of the Week honors (4/16/00, 12/24/00), giving him 26 total career POW awards. The NBA began the Player of the Week award in 1979-80.

GASOL CRASHING THE BOARDS
With eight double-doubles and 126 rebounds over an eight-game span from 12/9/09-12/22/09, Pau Gasol enjoyed the best rebounding stretch of his career. Entering the season with a career-high 19 rebounds 4/9/09 vs. Denver, Gasol bettered his career-high three times during the run (20 reb. 12/11 vs. Minnesota, 20 reb. 12/12 at Utah, 22 reb. 12/16 at Milwaukee). With 26 points and a career-high 22 rebounds 12/16 at Milwaukee, Gasol became the first Laker to record a 20pt/20reb game since Lamar Odom posted 23 points and 21 rebounds 3/24/08 at Golden State. Prior to that, the most recent Lakers player to record a 20/20 game was Shaquille O’Neal in 2004.

Additionally, with 20 rebounds 12/12/09 at Utah and 20 rebounds 12/11/09 vs. Minnesota, Gasol became the first Laker to record 20 rebounds in consecutive games since Lamar Odom posted 22 rebounds 3/23/08 vs. Golden State and 21 rebounds 3/24/08 at Golden State. The only other Laker to record back-to-back 20-plus rebounds in the past 30 years is Vlade Divac, who did so 2/24/95 vs. Charlotte (24 rebounds) and 2/25/95 vs. Los Angeles Clippers (20 rebounds). Prior to that, the most recent Lakers player to post consecutive 20 rebound games was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (20 rebounds 1/24/78 vs. Philadelphia, 21 rebounds 1/27/78 vs. Milwaukee).

40-POINT GAMES
Kobe Bryant scored 40 points 12/22/09 vs. Oklahoma City, marking the 102nd time in his career that he has scored 40+ points in a game and the 6th time this season, further surpassing his total for all of last season (4). Bryant’s 46 points 2/1/08 at Toronto moved him past Elgin Baylor (88 40+ games) for 3rd all-time and into 1st in Lakers franchise history. In the history of the NBA, only two players have more career 40-point games: Wilt Chamberlain (271) and Michael Jordan (173). The Lakers are now 71- 31 all-time in games that Bryant scores 40+ points and are 6-0 in such games this season. Bryant holds the Lakers franchise record for 40-point games in a single season, recording 27 during the 2005-06 campaign. Bryant also holds the franchise record for most consecutive 40-point games (9), established during the 2002-03 season, which is tied for the fourth longest such streak in NBA history (Michael Jordan) behind Wilt Chamberlain, who twice posted streaks of 14 and once had a 10-game streak.

JUST ADD GASOL
Since Pau Gasol made his season debut 11/19 vs. Chicago, the Lakers are now 16-2 while defeating teams by an average of 10.6 points per game (191). Additionally, with Gasol’s return, all five starters have scored in double-figures five times whereas in the previous 11 games without him in the lineup, not once did that occur. In games played without Gasol since he joined the Lakers, Los Angeles is 15-7 overall (6-4 in 2007-08, 1-0 in 2008-09 and 8-3 in 2009-10). With Gasol in the lineup, the Lakers are 102-24 (.810) in the regular season since he joined the team in February of 2008 (22-5 in 2007-08, 64-17 in 2008-09 and 15-2 in 2009-10) and 30-14 (.682) in the playoffs.

BACK-TO-BACK
Monday’s game with the Suns is the first of a back-to-back set with Phoenix and Golden State. This season, the Lakers are 6-1 in the first game and 5-2 in the second game of back-to-backs. On the year, the Lakers will play 20 sets of back-to-back games, the most the team has played in a single season since playing 22 sets of back-to- backs during the 1999-00 campaign. Last year, the Lakers played 19 sets of back-to-backs, going 14-5 in the first game and 14-5 in the second as well. Charlotte, Detroit and Milwaukee lead the league with 23 back-to-backs each in 2009-10 while New Orleans (15) and San Antonio (17) will play the fewest sets this season.