PHOENIX -- When the NBA playoffs opened last week, the opening- round series between the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers often had the word 'sweep' associated with it.
After all, Phoenix posted the best record in the NBA during the regular season while Los Angeles limped home to the eighth and final berth in the Western Conference after their first losing season since 1975-76. The Suns won 23 more games than the Lakers during the season, the largest gap of any first-round matchup.
After Sunday's Game 2 of the series, a sweep possibility still exists, but it's shockingly the Suns who are on the verge of elimination.
Vlade Divac hit back-to-back baskets in the final 83 seconds to break a tie, giving the Lakers an improbable 2-0 lead with an 86-81 triumph over the Suns.
'Everybody said the Lakers had no chance,' said Divac, who led the Lakers with 19 points. 'But even though we struggled during the regular season, we're a good team in the playoffs.
'Coming here (to Phoenix), they said there's no way we'd win two. Maybe we'd win one, but no way we'd win two.'
Think again. The Lakers, who on Friday became the first No. 8 seed to take a 1-0 lead on a top seed since the NBA went to a 16-team playoff format nine years ago, now can wrap up the best-of-5 series Tuesday night at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif.
Only three NBA teams have come back from an 0-2 deficit to win the opening best-of-5 playoff series. None have come back after dropping the first two at home.
'We've been a team to battle adversity all year long, but this will certainly be our greatest challenge,' said guard Kevin Johnson, who returned to the Suns' lineup after missing Game 1 and the final two regular-season games with a sprained knee.
'Our backs are against the wall and I look forward to the next three games. Everybody predicted us to win three games in a row -- it's time to win our three in a row.'
To do so, the Suns have to find a way to score some points. Phoenix was held to 11 points in the final quarter, the fewest the Suns ever scored in one period of a playoff game. The Suns went the final 5:56 without a field goal.
'It's ridiculous to score 11 points in the fourth quarter,' Johnson said.
Phoenix held a 70-65 advantage entering the fourth quarter, but a collapsing Lakers defense forced the Suns into a series of bad shots over the last six minutes. The Suns hit 4 of 21 shots in the final period.
'We are playing good defense and keeping the tempo under control,' Lakers guard Byron Scott said. 'We don't want to run the court with them.'
The teams traded baskets for much of the fourth quarter, but Los Angeles used a 3e-pointer by Scott and an Eldon Campbell dunk to draw within 78-77 with 4:37 left. After two Tom Chambers free throws for Phoenix, the Lakers sank back-to-back 24-second clock buzzer-beaters to take the lead.
First, James Worthy tied the score by connecting on a 3-pointer just as the shot clock ran out. Divac then nailed a 12-foot hook at the buzzer to put Los Angeles ahead 82-80 with 1:23 left.
'They hit some great shots down the stretch,' Suns Coach Paul Westphal said. 'It seemed like every shot they needed to hit, they hit it.'
After Charles Barkley failed to connect from the paint, Divac broke free along the baseline for a dunk with 46.1 seconds remaining for an 84-80 lead.
'I picked an inopportune time to have a horrible game,' said Barkley, who missed his last seven shots and had just one point in the fourth quarter. 'I just played terrible. I couldn't seem to get anything to go in.'
Scott finished with 17 points for the Lakers, while Campbell tallied 15 and Worthy had 11. Barkley, Chambers and Richard Dumas led Phoenix with 18 points each, while Johnson added 14 points and 16 assists.
Los Angeles held a 45-43 halftime advantage, but the Suns used a 14-4 run midway through the third quarter to take the biggest lead of the game at 61-51 with 5:10 left in the period. Barkley recorded six points in the outburst.
However, the Lakers used a 10-3 spree of their own to pull within 64- 61 on a Tony Smith jumper with 2:08 remaining.
'We did the things to make the game close in the final few minutes,' Scott said. 'That was our plan going in -- keep the game close.'
Los Angeles held Phoenix to just 39 percent shooting in the first half, and Divac's 3-pointer with 8.5 seconds left gave the Lakers a 45- 43 lead at intermission.
The Lakers trailed 24-21 after one quarter, but ran off 12 of the first 15 points of the second quarter to take a 33-27 lead on Smith's fast-break layup with 8:01 left before halftime.
Phoenix went 4:55 without a field goal after Dan Majerle's 3-pointer in the first minute of the quarter, finally breaking the drought when Barkley was credited with a backet after goaltending was called on the Lakers.
The Suns then put together an 8-point run late in the quarter, finally taking a 43-42 lead when Barkley hit a driving right-hander in the lane with 1:32 left. Neither team scored again until Divac, who missed four free throws in the last two minutes, drained his three- pointer.
Barkley hit what could have been the tying basket from inside the lane at the buzzer, but the shot was waved off.
Phoenix used a 9-0 run in the opening minutes to take an early lead, and Dumas finished with 10 points in the period as the Suns held a 24-21 advantage after one quarter.
