PHOENIX (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Lakers look to take a commanding three games to none lead tonight over the Phoenix Suns as the series comes to America West Arena for Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.

Kobe Bryant's 14-foot jumper with 2.6 seconds remaining lifted the Lakers to a 97-96 victory over the Suns in Game 2 on Wednesday.

The Lakers have won seven straight against the Suns dating to a 106-101 setback on March 24 of last season.

Los Angeles will try to avoid a repeat of its opening-round series against Sacramento, when it lost two on the road after winning the first two games at the Staples Center. Although they came out on top in the end, the Lakers know Phoenix played well enough to steal a victory.

"I'm a little disappointed in the players," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said after the victory. "We had a real good third quarter and an opportunity to extend the lead but we gave up a 3-point shot at the end of the quarter and started the fourth in kind of a daze. We probably did not deserve that win, other than the fact that we were willing to play some defense."

Shaquille O'Neal, celebrating his Most Valuable Player award, scored 38 points on 16-of-28 shooting and was his usual dominant self on the boards, grabbing 20 rebounds in the victory. He manhandled Suns center Luc Longley, holding him to just four points on 2-of-11 shooting.

Phoenix did bounce back after a disastrous shooting performance in Game 1, shooting 44 percent (37-of-85) with only 12 turnovers in Game 2. In the opener, the Suns shot an abysmal 36 percent (28-of-77) and committed 23 turnovers.

Phoenix forward Cliff Robinson scored a playoff career-best 30 points in the setback and Penny Hardaway added 27 for the Suns, who gained confidence from their showing in Game 2.

"We go home 0-2 but we know we're capable of beating that team," Robinson said. "Kobe made a tough shot. We did what we needed to do to give ourselves a chance to win and we just came up a litle short. We definitely let them know that we're not going to give up."

Game 4 is here on Sunday.