There will be no easy path back to the finals for the Los Angeles Lakers, no matter how many noses they break or how many times they dismissively shrug off their opponent. The hard-charging Phoenix Suns, with 3-pointers sailing and their zone defense in full effect once more, tied the Western Conference finals on Tuesday with a 115-106 victory at U.S. Airways Center. It is now a best-of-three series, with Game 5 on Thursday in Los Angeles. The Suns won their sixth straight home playoff game, the second-longest streak in franchise history, with a full team effort and a lot of long-distance shooting. Phoenix went 11 for 30 from beyond the 3-point arc, including four from the formerly slumping Channing Frye. Amar'e Stoudemire had 21 points, half his Game 3 total, but his inside presence kept the perimeter clear for the Suns' shooters. Frye and Leandro Barbosa had 14 points each. Steve Nash, playing with a newly realigned nose, had 15 points and 8 assists and continued to take facial abuse from Derek Fisher. Nash sustained a mild fracture in his nose in Game 3, when Fisher accidentally head-butted him. Nash had minor surgery on Monday and chose not to wear a mask for the game. He may have to reconsider after Fisher, again lunging for the ball, smacked him on the nose again in third quarter, sending Nash sprawling to the floor. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 38 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds, and tied his career playoff high with six 3-pointers. But with the game and control of the series slipping away, he slipped into the background. He hardly looked to shoot for most of the fourth quarter, then attacked late when the Suns had a double-digit lead. He went 3 for 4 in the quarter, and finished 15 of 22 from the field. After trailing for most of the night, the Lakers briefly took a lead late in the third quarter, and again early in the fourth. Then the Suns unleashed a barrage of 3-pointers. Frye hit the first, followed by Barbosa and then Jared Dudley, as the Suns surged to a 98-89 lead with 6 minutes 47 seconds to play. Phoenix pushed the lead to as many as 13 points and was never threatened. 'I'm obviously disappointed,' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. 'We thought we could come here and get a game. Unfortunately, we weren't up to the task.' At 2-0, the Suns were essentially dismissed as a worthy foe for the defending champion Lakers. At 2-2, the Suns are starting to sense a potential upset. 'It feels great,' Stoudemire said. 'Our confidence is high. We feel like we got a chance to win the series.'' The Suns continued to rely heavily on a zone defense, which helped them take Game 3. It was effective at times, but the Lakers still shot 49.5 percent from the field. The bigger factor was rebounding, which the Suns dominated by a 51-36 margin. The Suns had 66 points at halftime, their best first half of the series, and were buoyed by the return of Frye's long-lost jumper. He had a team-high 11 points in the half, including three 3-pointers, putting his troubling slump to rest, and offsetting a slow start by Stoudemire (6 points). Frye had grown increasingly testy about his errant shooting after going 1 for 20 in the first three games. He chastised reporters for asking about it on Monday. Fans booed when Frye missed his first shot Tuesday, then cheered wildly when he made a 3-pointer in the second quarter. Dudley and Barbosa followed with 3-pointers as the Suns took a 10-point lead and the building boomed with chants of 'Beat L.A.!' The Suns went 8 for 16 from behind the 3-point line in the half and scored 41 points in the second quarter, making a mockery of the Lakers' defense. After playing distributor in the first quarter (and going scoreless), Bryant got aggressive, scoring 15 points in the second quarter and 16 in the third. Four days ago, fans and commentators were anticipating another Lakers-Celtics championship series. Boston holds a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals. 'People were overlooking them after the first two games and thinking ahead already,' Gasol said. 'Obviously, that's a big mistake.' While they awaited Game 4, the Lakers were briefly sucked into the LeBron James free agency vortex, albeit indirectly. ESPN, citing unnamed sources, reported that the Nets and the Chicago Bulls had made back-channel inquiries to gauge Jackson's interest in coaching them. Both teams are expected to pursue James in July, and Jackson -- with his 10 championship rings -- would be a huge asset in that effort. Jackson, who is in the last year of his contract, has been noncommittal about coaching next season. If he does work, Jackson has said there is a 90 percent chance that he will remain with the Lakers. That estimate has not changed, with Jackson reiterating Tuesday that 'the probabilities are great' that he will coach the Lakers or retire. Asked about the possibility of coaching elsewhere, he said, 'I have not entertained any conversations about that right now.' For the second time this month, Jackson categorically ruled out returning to Chicago, where he began his coaching career in 1989. 'I have no, no -- at all -- desire to go back to Chicago and coach the Bulls,' he said. He did not seem that enamored of the rebuilding Nets either, but seemed intrigued by their charismatic new owner, the Russian billionaire Mikhail D. Prokhorov. 'I'd like to have a vodka with him at some point,' Jackson said with a smile. 'He seems like a very interesting young man.' 