Suns cut Lakers down to size this time

Correction. Please note that the Phoenix Suns are small and stubborn.

Tired of being thumped by the Lakers, the Suns didn’t let their reputation precede them, standing metaphorically tall in a 118-103 victory over the same team that had toyed with them twice this season.

Amare Stoudemire had 26 points and the Suns buried the Lakers in a barrage of third-quarter three-pointers Monday night at US Airways Center.

The Lakers led, 16-10, and that was pretty much the end of their fun. Kobe Bryant had 34 points, but the Lakers, again playing without Ron Artest, gave up a season high in points, no play standing out more than Stoudemire’s dunk on a drive against Andrew Bynum, providing an 89-73 lead toward the end of the third quarter.

The points in the paint weren’t laughably one-sided despite the height mismatch -- the Lakers had 38 points down low, the Suns 34 -- but the final score was definitely a punch line, the joke squarely on the Lakers after beating the Suns by 19 points in November and 20 earlier this month at Staples Center.

The Lakers had 13 assists as a team. Suns guard Steve Nash had 13 by himself.

“I wasn’t comfortable with my starters or my bench,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. “I didn’t like either group. Guys didn’t play right.”

The Lakers (24-6) pounded the ball down low in the first quarter but got away from it, Pau Gasol committing four turnovers in the post, a rarity for him.

Andrew Bynum started strong -- nine points and six rebounds in the first quarter -- but ended quietly with 14 points and nine rebounds.

The Suns (20-12) led by only two after the first quarter and then ran circles around the Lakers from there, including a 33-point third quarter in which they made five of 12 three-point attempts.

“They were playing their game and having a good time,” said Gasol, who had 13 points.

For Lakers fans, medical reports are becoming more important than game reports.

For starters, Artest didn’t play in a second consecutive game, staying back in Los Angeles because of a concussion and sore elbow. He consulted a neurologist Monday morning but was not cleared to play. Artest, who also has an injured elbow after what the team said was a fall at his home on Christmas night, might return tonight against Golden State.

Bryant wore a black protective sleeve on his right elbow, which he strained Saturday against Sacramento, and got smacked on his right index finger during a first-quarter drive to the basket.

He winced, bent over and grabbed the finger, which is still tender from an avulsion fracture. Bryant didn’t seem affected the rest of the way, making 14 of 26 shots in 36 minutes.

“Stop asking me about injuries,” he said afterward. “You think I’m not going to play? I’m fine.”

Lamar Odom was the latest Lakers player to get hurt when two of his fingers were bent back after making contact with Leandro Barbosa on a pull-up jump shot by the Suns guard early in the second quarter.

Odom was called for a foul on the play and went to the bench, where he was told he sprained the index and middle fingers on his right hand. He went back in the game a few minutes later and finished with nine points on four-for-13 shooting.

“Gonna need to ice them,” he said, holding out his fingers to show how swollen they were. “If Kobe doesn’t miss games because of a broken finger, I’m not going to miss any.”

The Lakers missed a lot on Monday.

Derek Fisher made one of seven shots. Gasol was the only player with more than two assists (he had five).

The Suns, meanwhile, led by as many as 22 as the Lakers’ defense melted amid “a little confusion on the rotation,” Bryant said.

“If you have a second of doubt, not being that sure about where you’re going, they’re going to make you pay, and that’s what they did,” he said.

Perhaps Jackson summed it up best.

“It was a very irritating night,” he said.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

twitter.com/Mike_Bresnahan