Lakers vs Suns Game 6

First quarter, 3:51 remaining: Lakers 27, Suns 27

Channing Frye hit a long jumper just before the timeout to tie the score.

Ron Artest is looking like an offensive whiz so far, his latest was a fallaway jumper. Artest has hit four of six shots and has nine points.

Derek Fisher drew a foul on Grant Hill and hit all three free throws to give the Lakers a 25-23 lead with about 5:20 left in the quarter.

Get news and stories direct from our Sports desk to your inbox with our daily L.A. Sports Connection newsletter. Sign up »

Kobe Bryant returned to the game after getting a cut on his finger bandaged and hit a three, then shot an airball on his next three.

The Lakers have done a good job denying Amare Stoudmire the ball; he took only one shot in the first six minutes of the quarter.

First quarter, 6:45 remaining: Lakers 19, Suns 19

So far it's an even shooting contest. The Lakers are shooting 80% from the field, the Suns 75%.

Ron Artest is looking for his shot early and took three shots, and made all of them, in the first four minutes. Artest has seven points to lead the Lakers in scoring.

Meanwhile, Jason Richardson leads the Suns with seven pionts.

Kobe Bryant drew a foul on Grant Hill while hitting a bankshot. He hit the free throw to give the Lakers a 17-14 lead. Bryant had a cut on his finger and came out to get it bandaged; he was replaced by Shannon Brown.

Andrew Bynum has been getting deep position in the paint and has hit his first two field goals. Suns center Robin Lopez already has two fouls in the first two-plus minutes and has gone to the bench.

But he was replaced by Channing Frye, who hit a three on his first possession.

Lakers vs. Suns Game 6, Pregame

One key tonight for the Lakers, who hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals series, will be how many turnovers their defense can force from the Phoenix Suns.

In the Suns' two wins in this series, both at Phoenix, they have averaged only seven turnovers a game, while in their three losses at Staples Center the Suns have turned the ball over an average of 14 times a game.

Of course, defense is a relative rarity in this series, with both teams scoring more than 100 points in every game. In Game 5, when the Lakers escaped thanks to Ron Artest's last second put-back basket of a Kobe Bryant airball, they did hold the Suns to a series low of 101 points, though Phoenix still shot 46.8% from the field.