USA - Lakers win at the buzzer to lead Suns in West finals

LOS ANGELES (NBA) - Ron Artest's offensive rebound and put-back at the final buzzer on Thursday night gave the Los Angeles Lakers a 103-101 triumph over Phoenix and a 3-2 lead in the NBA's Western Conference finals.

Team USA's Kobe Bryant launched an off-balance three-pointer that missed everything but Artest grabbed the ball and banked in the winning shot just as the contest ended.

Phoenix, who had hit back from an 18-point deficit in the second half to pull even, will now look to level the series when they host Game 6 on Saturday night.

Steve Nash, the former Canada international, had a brilliant game for the Suns.

He finished with 29 points and 11 assists.

"We can't knock a great effort," he said.

"Maybe we deserved this game, maybe we didn't.

"They held home court. We'll go back and do the same, and we'll come back here for Game 7."

Bryant almost had a triple-double. He finished with 30 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists while fellow Team USA star Lamar Odom contributed 17 points, a game-high 13 boards and four assists.

Spain's 2006 FIBA World Championship MVP Pau Gasol weighed in with 21 points, nine rebounds and four helpers.

Phoenix's Team USA center Amare Stoudemire poured in 19 points and blocked three shots.

Two other national team stars who had big-time contributions in Phoenix's Game 4 rout of the Lakers in Phoenix, Leandro Barbosa of Brazil and Goran Dragic of Slovenia, didn't make a similar impact in Game 5.

Barbosa finished with two points and Dragic had three.

As for Artest, he struggled shooting the ball, making just two of his nine attempts from the floor on his way to four points.

He came up with a game-high three steals, however.

FIBA