Lakers Vs. Suns: Kobe Bryant Drops 24, But Ron Artest And Derek Fisher Hit Daggers

The Phoenix Suns made a gallant effort to take down the L.A. Lakers Wednesday night, but daggers from Ron Artest and Derek Fisher in the final two minutes pushed the two-time defending champs over the top for a 99-95 win.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 24 points, but he deferred to his teammates as the Suns closed to within one points with two minutes left. With 90 seconds on the clock and the Lakers up three, Kobe sucked in the defense and hit Artest for a wide (wide wide) open three to push the lead to six. After Suns center Marcin Gortat split a pair from the line, Grant Hill blocked Pau Gasol's short jumper. The ball found its way to Kobe on the reset, and instead of trying to do it all himself he swung the ball to longtime teammate Fisher for the game-clinching three.

Phoenix relied on a big outpouring from Jared Dudley (21 points) and solid three-point shooting across the board to hang in with the champs. The Suns hit 11 of 23 three-pointers, which helped to make up for a huge deficit on the offensive glass (14 for L.A., just five for Phoenix). Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom had four offensive rebounds apiece.