In the mid-to-late 2000s, the Phoenix Suns were one of the Los Angeles Lakers’ chief rivals. They defeated the Purple and Gold in the first round of the 2006 and 2007 playoffs, only to be knocked off by L.A. in the 2010 Western Conference Finals.
By 2011, the rivalry had cooled, but on a March night that year, the two teams engaged in a very memorable battle that went three extra periods.
At the time, the Lakers were the two-time defending NBA champs and were going for a three-peat. After an inconsistent first half of the campaign, they were starting to surge as the playoffs neared, having gone on a recent eight-game winning streak.
L.A. led by 21 points in the third quarter and by nine with three minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the Suns responded with a furious rally to force overtime.
In the end, the Lakers simply had too much firepower for the declining Suns.
Kobe Bryant had 42 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, Lamar Odom had 29 points and 16 rebounds while the man then-known as Ron Artest had 18 points, including five late in the third OT.
For the Suns, Steve Nash tallied 19 points and 20 assists while Channing Frye had 14 rebounds and a career-high 32 points.
Although the Lakers collapsed a few weeks later and were shockingly swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs, they gave their fans plenty of thrills on that Tuesday night at Staples Center.
