21 May 2010

Lakers stave off Suns fightback

5:09 am on 21 May 2010

The Los Angeles Lakers held off a second-half fightback by the Phoenix Suns to increase their lead in the NBA Western Conference basketball finals with a 124-112 home win in game two.

The Lakers crushed Phoenix 128-107 in the series opener on Tuesday but the Suns levelled at 90-all going into the fourth quarter.

However, the bigger Lakers coolly raised their level with their powerful inside presence and Spanish forward Pau Gasol finished with a game-high 29 points.

The best-of-seven series moves to Arizona for game three on Monday.