PHOENIX – Kobe Bryant didn’t score, the Phoenix Suns couldn’t run.

Nothing was quite as it was supposed to be when the Suns escaped with a 107-102 victory over Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers yesterday to take a 1-0 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.

Tim Thomas had 22 points and a ca reer playoff-high 15 rebounds for the Suns, who nearly succumbed to coach Phil Jackson’s game plan of going inside against the small Phoenix lineup, then turning to Bryant to finish it off.

“We certainly didn’t play very well,” the Suns’ Steve Nash said. “We look at that as a positive. We didn’t play well and we found a way to win, and we’ve got a lot of improvements to make.”

Thomas, sent home by the Chicago Bulls for what they thought was a bad attitude for most of this season, then released and signed by Phoenix on March 3, made his first eight shots and finished 8-for-10, 4-for-5 from 3-point range.

Nash had 20 points, including a crucial 3-pointer with 1:07 to play, and 10 assists. The Suns made 32 of 35 free throws, 8-for-8 by Nash.

Shawn Marion added 19 points, Boris Diaw 15 and Leandro Barbosa 15, nine in the fourth quarter.

Bryant, the NBA scoring champion with 35.4 points per game, scored 22 points – barely half the 42.5 he averaged against Phoenix in the regular season – on 7-for-21 shooting, 1-of-6 3-pointers. But Lamar Odom had 21 points and 14 rebounds and Luke Walton matched his career with 19 points.

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DETROIT 92, MILWAUKEE 74 In Auburn Hills, Mich., Rasheed Wallace scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half and Richard Hamilton scored 21 to lead Detroit to a 92-74 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 1 of their first-round series last night.

The top-seeded Pistons were so balanced offensively that they started the final quarter with four scorers in double figures, and were so tough at the other end that Milwaukee didn’t have one.

Bucks star Michael Redd was held to 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting after averaging 25.4 during the regular season and 30 in four games against the Pistons. Reserve Charlie Bell led Milwaukee with 13 points.

The Pistons took control with a 13-2 run midway through the third quarter to take a 51-43 lead, but had to respond when the Bucks showed signs of life to open the fourth.

Milwaukee scored the first eight points of the final quarter to pull within four, but couldn’t stop four Pistons from combining for an 11-0 run to give Detroit a 79-64 lead.

Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince scored 15, Chauncey Billups had 14, and reserve Antonio McDyess added nine points.