Amare Stoudemire has shouldered the blame from critics and fans the past week with people questioning his defense, rebounding and overall heart.

On Sunday night, he put the team on his shoulders as he scored 42 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to power the Phoenix Suns to a 118-109 victory  over the Los Angeles Lakers Sunday night; cutting the Lakers’ series to 2-1.

Robin Lopez’s return gave the Suns some sorely needed size inside as he scored 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting in 31 minutes, by far his most playing time since returning from a back injury at the start of the series.

For a change, Phoenix had a huge advantage at the charity stripe as they made 37-of-42 free throws, including 14 of 18 by Stoudemire. The Lakers were 16 of 20 at the line.

Kobe Bryant had 36 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds. Pau Gasol scored 23 points, but the Lakers didn’t get as much help from their supporting cast as they did in the first two games.

Jason Richardson scored 19 points while Steve Nash had 17 points and 15 assists before banging his nose in a fourth-quarter collision with Derek Fisher. Nash said he didn’t think it was broken but planned to see a specialist before practice on Monday.

The media had already begun premature talks of a Lakers-Celtics rematch in the NBA Finals which may be derailed momentarily as the Suns can pull even in the series with a victory at home in Game 4 on Tuesday night.

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