When the Los Angeles Lakers led Phoenix by 21 points in the third quarter, Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom were pretty sure their night would end briskly and tidily.

After three overtimes, 276 combined points and a season’s worth of heart-stopping moments, Bryant and Odom were merely grateful to stagger out of Staples Center with a victory in a once-in-a-decade thriller.

Bryant scored a season-high 42 points, Ron Artest got five of his 18 points in the final two minutes of the third overtime, and the Los Angeles Lakers outlasted the Phoenix Suns for a 139-137 victory Tuesday night.

“I wish we would have put them away when we should have,” said Odom, who had a season-high 29 points and 16 rebounds.

Both teams traded improbable last-second heroics in what turned into just the fourth triple-overtime game for the Lakers since they moved to Los Angeles.

Phoenix rallied from a 21-point deficit and another nine-point hole in the final three minutes of regulation, forcing the first OT on Grant Hill's 3-pointer with 31 seconds left.