Air Ball Leads to Game winner...

A heart-breaking loss for the Phoenix Suns tonight.

The Suns, down 18 points early on, battle back to tie the game with 3.5 seconds left in regulation and then get an air ball of all things from Kobe Bryant, only to see Ron Artest grab the ball and sink a bank shot at the buzzer, to preserve the LA Lakers' 103-101 win in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals at the Staples Center.

Will Bryant's air ball turn out to be the shot that kick starts the Lakers into the NBA Finals?

The Suns will now need two in a row to get the job done -- and they need to take care of business at home on Saturday in Game 6 to force a winner-take-all finale back at Staple Center on Monday night. The Suns received another brilliant performance from guard Steve Nash as he matched Bryant shot for shot in Game 5. Nash poured in 29 points and added 11 assist, while Bryant scored 30 points to lead the Lakers. But as it turns out, the big story was not the shots that Bryant made tonight, instead tomorrow's headlines on the sports pages across the nation will focus on the one shot he missed.