Nash, Suns scorch Lakers

Leandro Barbosa scored 23 points off the bench and Raja Bell went a perfect 6- for-6 from three-point range and finished with 22 points for the Suns, who moved 2 1/2 games in front of idle San Antonio for the second seed in the Western Conference.

Kobe Bryant poured in 34 points and had seven assists, while Smush Parker scored 25 points for the Lakers, who moved a half game behind Denver for the sixth spot in the West. Los Angeles squares off the with the Nuggets on Monday.

The Lakers trailed by just a point to start the fourth quarter, but the Suns gradually pulled away and kept LA at arm’s length down the stretch.

Barbosa opened up the quarter with back-to-back layups and Phoenix quickly went up 78-73. A Parker bank shot brought the Lakers within 82-79, but Nash drained a trey to put Phoenix up by six with less than eight minutes to play.

A Bryant jumper brought LA within four, 87-83, but that was as close as the Lakers would get. The Suns ripped off seven straight points, featuring a Bell three-pointer, to push their lead to 94-83 with 4:14 remaining.

Three Bryant free throws made it a nine-point game with just over three minutes left, but Bell came back with another trey and Shawn Marion followed with a layup to make it 101-87. Phoenix then put on a free throw shooting clinic the rest of the way, going a perfect 12-for-12 from the charity stripe to ice the game.

Phoenix held a slim 27-26 advantage after the opening 12 minutes and took a 54-48 lead into the locker room thanks in part to an 11-0 second quarter run.

A late 9-2 Lakers’ run in the third quarter brought LA within 72-71 on Bryant’s layup with just over a minute to play and the Suns took a 74-73 lead into the final quarter.

Game Notes

Amare Stoudemire had 19 points and nine rebounds for Phoenix, while Marion finished with 12 points...Ronny Turiaf scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Lakers.