Final Score: Suns 118, Lakers 109

The critics have been giving Amar'e Stoudemire a lot of heat for his lack of rebounding in the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers, along with the inability to match up with Pau Gasol.

In Game 3, the Suns forward proved everyone wrong. Perhaps it was a change of scenery (playing at home), but whatever sparked Stoudemire clearly left him with a big chip on his shoulder.

Amar'e Stoudemire had 42 points, tying a playoff career-high, to go along with 11 rebounds in a truly dominant performance on Sunday night. He shot 14 for 18 from the free throw line, and shot 14 for 22 from the field. Amar'e scored 29 of his points in the second half, coming up huge time and time again.

Kobe Bryant had a monster game for the Lakers, with 36 points, 11 assists, and 9 rebounds in a fantastic effort. Kobe shot 13 for 24, and 7 for 7 from the free throw line. He did, however, shoot just 2 for 8 from behind the arc, and had 5 turnovers. Still, Bryant's effort was masterful in almost all phases, and should have led to a Laker win.

Instead, L.A. could not stop the Phoenix attack, and the team was bothered by the Suns' zone defense scheme. Phoenix played zone D for about 75% of this game, clearly bothering the Lakers' offensive attack.

Pau Gasol had 23 points and 9 rebounds, and Derek Fisher had a big game with 18 points,

But Lamar Odom had a rough game, shooting just 4 for 14 for 10 points and eventually fouling out. Andrew Bynum is clearly hobbled, and he finished with just 2 points in 8 minutes.

The Lakers did not get enough help for Bryant and Gasol. The zone defense clearly affected the role players for Los Angeles.

Phoenix also had its own role players show up in this one. Robin Lopez had a perfect game, scoring 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Jason Richardson added 19 points. And Steve Nash had his typical line of 17 points and 15 assists, with just 1 turnover.

Phoenix continued its poor shooting from behind the arc, going just 5 for 20 for three. But the Lakers were even worse, shooting 9 for 32 . The three-point shot is not the focus of Los Angeles's game, but the Phoenix zone defense clearly forced the Lakers into taking more threes than they wanted. The Lakers did not convert on enough of the attempts.

The benches for both teams struggled in this game. The Suns got nothing from Jared Dudley, Goran Dragic, and Leandro Barbosa. But the Lakers got a bad game from Odom, and nothing from Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown. Those three combined to shoot 7 for 24.

The turnover battle was a major factor in the game, as well. Phoenix committed just 7 turnovers, while the Lakers committed 17 of them. This gave the Suns a +15 advantage in fast-break points, something that they excel in and gets the team going.

The Lakers need to take better care of the ball, find a way to more efficiently break the zone defense, and get more players involved in the offense. If they can't find a way to play better in these 3 phases, then the Suns will be once again favored to win at home in Game 4 on Tuesday.

We'll see if Amar'e Stoudemire can put together the same kind of game that he did in this one. Anything close to this 42-point effort would be huge for the Suns in Game 4. But they can even play better themselves, getting the bench more involved and shooting better from three.

It should be a very intense Game 4 in Phoenix on Tuesday, and it will be a decisive game that either puts the Lakers in the driver's seat or gives the Suns a chance in this series.

Will it be 3-1 or 2-2 after Tuesday night? It's a big one. Stay tuned.