For a long time Sunday, the Suns couldn't make a shot and Kobe Bryant couldn't miss.

Then Leandro Barbosa, the "Brazilian Blur", brought the NBA's highest-scoring offense to life, and Bryant went from awesome to awful.

The result was a second-half rally that gave the Suns a 95-87 victory over the Lakers in their first-round Western Conference playoff opener.

"They did everything in the book to give this game away," Lakers guard Smush Parker said, "and we didn't take advantage of it."

Barbosa showed why he is a leading candidate for the NBA's sixth man award. The guard scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half, including 15 consecutive Phoenix points in one stretch, to match his career playoff scoring high.