Kobe outshines the Suns

The Sacramento Kings, Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards also posted wins to even their series at 2-2 as the NBA post-season continued to take unexpected twists and turns.

After taking a 2-0 series lead, the San Antonio Spurs return home for Game Five on Tuesday all-square after the Kings cruised to a 102-84 win handing the defending champions one of their worst beatings of the season.

Second-seeded Miami is also feeling heat after falling 93-87 to the Bulls who levelled their Eastern quarter-final at 2-2 while the Wizards eased past LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-96 to square that series at two each.

Bryant, who has tried to use his team mates and resist the temptation to try and do it all himself throughout the series, stepped forward when he had to by nailing two clutch buckets, the game winner and a last-gasp basket with under a second remaining in regulation to level the game at 90-90.

"It was the most fun shot I've ever hit," Bryant told reporters. "Just because it's us as a unit enjoying this moment together with the entire city of L.A."

Bryant finished with 24 points despite sitting out large parts of the contest due to foul trouble while Lamar Odom had a game high 25.

Nash led the Suns with 22 points and 11 assists.

"I've been in a lot of playoff battles but never had one quite like this," Bryant said. "We had our backs against the wall and we were seemingly out of it."

In Sacramento, Bonzi Wells had 25 points and pulled down a career high 17 rebounds as the eighth-seeded Kings stunned the top-seeded Spurs with some aggressive play to post their second consecutive home win.

To the delight of their home crowd, the Kings administered an old-fashioned beating to the reigning NBA champions as they stormed to a 26-point lead in the fourth quarter, the biggest deficit the Spurs have faced this season.

Brad Miller contributed 19 points to the Kings cause while Mike Bibby added 16.

Tony Parker had 22 points to lead the Spurs while Tim Duncan was the only other San Antonio player to hit double figures with 17.

In Chicago, Kirk Hinrich hit a 27-foot jump shot with just over a minute left and the Bulls converted five-of-six free throw attempts in the final 26 seconds to hold off Miami 93-87.

Hinrich's shot came seconds after fellow guard Chris Duhon put the Bulls up for good with a driving shot in the face of Heat big man Shaquille O'Neal in the Western Conference quarter-final.

O'Neal, who was fined $25,000 by the league on Saturday for criticizing officials, once again found himself in foul trouble and was held to 16 points and eight rebounds.

Antoine Walker led the Heat with 21 points while Andres Nocioni paced the Bulls with 24 points and Gordon added 23.

In Washington, the Wizards overcame a big deficit to even their playoff series with a 106-96 victory.

Washington trailed by 11 points at halftime as James set franchise playoff records for points in a quarter (18) and a half (25).

But the two-time All-Star was held to just 13 points in the second half to finish with 38.

Back-to-back three-point shots by Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison gave Washington the lead at the top of the fourth quarter. Arenas finished with 34 points while Jamison finished with 22 points and five assists.