In the first half, the Lakers shot 4-of-19 against the zone and couldn't work the ball inside against a much tougher Suns defense than the first two games, when the Lakers averaged 126.0 points and shot 57.8 from the field.
Suns coach Alvin Gentry said he made the switch after the Lakers came out hot again at the start.
"When they started the game making a ton of shots, we said, 'Well, we've got to give it a try,'" Gentry said. "We gave it a try and came up with some stops. So we just said we'd play it the whole second half. It's easier than trying to guard those guys on the inside and it's also easier than trying to guard Kobe (Bryant). So tonight it worked. And we stuck with it."
Aggressive Amare
After facing criticism for his performance in the first two games of the series, Amare Stoudemire had a monster Game 3, finishing with 42 points and 11 rebounds. The All-Star was 14-for-18 from the free throw line.
"He started the game with a lot of energy. I thought he just did a good job of being aggressive and taking the ball to the basket and getting to the foul line," Gentry said.
Stoudemire said Gentry told him before the game that he was going to get a lot of looks and touches.
"I was totally ready," Stoudemire said. "Being aggressive, I wanted to pretty much attack the bigs a little bit, and we got them in a little bit of foul trouble, which helped us. We were the aggressors and it showed."
Getting their freebies
The Suns played their most aggressive game of the series and went to the line 22 more times than the Lakers, hitting 88.1 percent (37-of-42) of their attempts.
Bryant said the Suns made an adjustment from the first two games by attacking the lane and getting to the hoop.
"That's what they did. They attacked us," Bryant said. "They got to the basket, got to the free throw line and hurt us."
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