Phoenix, AZ (Basketball News) - Leandro Barbosa led seven Suns in double figures with 26 points, as Phoenix completed a monumental series comeback to blow out the Los Angeles Lakers, 121-90, in Game 7 of their Western Conference quarterfinal set.
The second-seeded Suns blanketed Lakers star Kobe Bryant and became the eighth team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 series deficit to advance, and will face the No. 6 seed Los Angeles Clippers in the conference semifinals, starting Monday in Phoenix.
Bryant hit for a playoff career-best 50 points in an overtime loss on Thursday. However, Raja Bell returned on defense following a one-game suspension and Barbosa also helped to hold Bryant to 24 points, including one in the second half. Bryant attempted just three shots in the second half and finished 8-of-16 from the field.
"I’ve said the whole series, when you’re guarding a guy like that, all you can do is make him work on every possession," Bell said.
Boris Diaw added 21 points and nine assists, while Shawn Marion contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds for Phoenix, which never trailed the entire way.
"We let it all hang out there. I think our activity spoke for itself," Marion said.
Bell had been suspended for Game 6 after knocking Bryant to the floor in Tuesday’s contest. However, Bell used his offense with 13 points and got other help, as Steve Nash finished with 13 points and nine assists. Tim Thomas, who pushed Game 6 into overtime, ended with 12 points and James Jones scored 10.
Bryant hit the winning shot in overtime in Game 4 last Sunday to give the Lakers a commanding advantage, but they and head coach Phil Jackson lost a couple of monumental streaks. The Lakers had been 27-0 when ahead 3-1 in a series and Jackson-coached teams were 44-0 in sets in which they had the lead. Also, Jackson, a nine-time NBA champion as coach, lost for the first time in the opening round (14-1).
"They stepped up their intensity level, utilized all of their firepower and we couldn’t match it," Bryant said. "If you’re going to get back in this kind of a game, you have to have everybody contribute."
Luke Walton had 16 points and Lamar Odom added 12 points, while Sasha Vujacic ended with 11 for Los Angeles, which lost in the first round for the first time since 1996.
The Suns shot 61 percent from the floor, the highest field goal percentage in Game 7 in NBA history. Barbosa helped that cause by going 10-for-12.
Conversely, the Lakers shot 35.2 percent, including 8-of-27 from three-point range.
"We had jitters today," Jackson said. "Our guys were fumbling the ball and not catching the ball and not shooting the ball in the lane with that kind of decisiveness that had made us good."
A dunk by Walton tied the game at six in the early going, but the Suns scored the next 10 points, bookended by three-point shots from Nash and Jones. By the time the quarter ended, the Suns established a 32-15 lead.
Bryant’s three-pointer cut LA’s deficit to 45-36 midway through the second quarter, but Bell countered with a three and Thomas flushed a reverse jam, as Phoenix established a double-digit lead for the rest of the night.
The Suns led 60-45 at halftime, although Nash hurt his right ankle after banging into Marion’s leg in the final minute of the second quarter. Nash, though, returned for the third and said the injury shouldn’t be a factor in the second round.
"It is the same ankle I tweaked a couple of months ago and the swelling went down finally just a week ago, and then here it is again," said Nash, who is expected to be named the league’s MVP for a second straight season in a news conference on Sunday. "I is encouraging I could move on it in the second half and with a day and a half of rest, I think I will be fine for Monday."
The Suns stretched that advantage to 71-50 on a Bell layup just over three minutes into the third. The scoreboard read 90-65 going into the fourth, and the Lakers continued to falter thereafter.
Los Angeles Lakers 
Phoenix Suns 
