LAKERS: BROWN DIGS OUT L.A.

Byline: BILLY WITZ

Staff Writer

With the Lakers' season in the midst of slipping away, they were pulled back into their series with the Phoenix Suns by a pair of unlikely hands -- the often butterfingered mitts of Kwame Brown.

The Lakers' much-maligned center scored a career playoff-high 19 points, blocked and altered a pair of Suns shots down the stretch, and -- Kobe Bryant's brilliance or not -- was as big a reason as any the Lakers climbed back in the series with a 95-89 victory Thursday in Game 3 at Staples Center.

He even provided a Willis Reed-like moment, crumpling to the ground in the third quarter, clutching his right ankle. After hobbling to the bench during a timeout, he returned and moments later made the Lakers and the Staples Center crowd -- if not his ankle -- feel better with a pair of rim-rattling dunks.

And with that, a crowd that had often groaned in frustration during his two seasons in LosAngeles was on its feet chanting: "Kwa-me. Kwa-me."

"That's what good fans do, they try to lift you up," Brown said. "It's a great feeling, to be able to get up, for one, and be able to keep going. I think Kobe saw I was a little dinged up and that's what big men love, is dunks. We thrive off those energy plays and that's what gets us going to play better defense."

For someone with a woeful playoff history -- he was deactivated by the Washington Wizards two years ago -- and who missed 41 games with an injured left ankle that might require surgery at season's end, Brown provided a much-needed boost for a team that was desperately searching for answers as it returned home from Phoenix in an 0-2 hole.

When the Lakers had the Suns on the ropes last spring, pushing them to seven games it was on the strength of a game plan that coach Phil Jackson had themed Inside Man, after the movie. The idea was to slow the game down and pound the smallish Suns inside.

The plan was the same in this series, even though Phoenix had made themselves more formidable in the paint with Amare Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas, who each missed last year's series with injuries.

Yet through two games rather than Inside Man, Brown had become the Invisible Man. He totaled just 11 points, 11 rebounds and one blocked shot in 47 minutes.

It was a far different story Thursday night. While Brown bobbled and botched a handful of opportunities early when the Lakers were put in a 17-point hole, he stayed with it and helped dig them out.

"Even after the sloppy start, we still stayed positive and that's the key," Brown said. "I don't think I saw in anyone's eyes that it was over. Everyone just kept playing hard."

With Bryant, Lamar Odom and Luke Walton effortlessly getting into the paint, Brown was readily available when the Suns big men left him to help. He had three dunks around a driving basket by Bryant in the third quarter, the first two of which gave the Lakers the lead. In that stretch, Brown went down in a heap, clutching his right ankle.

"Like Willis Reed," Bryant said, "he didn't get discouraged when he didn't finish plays inside, he just continued to be aggressive and continued to attack. That's what we need him to do at both ends of the floor."

While Brown didn't score in the final quarter, his presence might have helped keep the paint clear as Stoudamire appeared loathe to leave him to help his teammates. That allowed Odom to post up Shawn Marion for a basket that gave the Lakers a 91-89 lead with 1:31 left.

At the other end, Brown altered Marion's drive that rolled off the rim. And moments later, with the Lakers holding a 93-89 lead, he swatted away Leandro Barbosa's shot as the Suns guard tried to avoid Bryant.

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