Suns force Game 7

Better put that Battle of Los Angeles on hold.

Boris Diaw and Shawn Marion each scored six points in overtime, Tim Thomas made two huge 3-pointers, and the visiting Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers 126-118 Thursday night to force a Game 7 in the first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Kobe Bryant scored all but one of the Lakers’ 13 points in overtime, and had 50 overall.

Game 7 will be played Saturday night in Phoenix, where the second-seeded Suns beat the Lakers 114-97 to send the game series to Los Angeles. The home team has a 75-17 advantage in NBA playoff Game 7s.

The winner of the series will face the Los Angeles Clippers.

Nets 96, Pacers 90: At Indianapolis, Richard Jefferson scored 30 points and New Jersey overcame Anthony Johnson’s 40-point effort to beat Indiana and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Vince Carter added 24 for the Nets, who won the best-of-7 series 4-2, while Jason Kidd had eight points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds.

Heat 113, Bulls 96: At Chicago, Shaquille O’Neal had 30 points and 20 rebounds, and Dwyane Wade had 23 points despite a bruised left hip as Miami eliminated Chicago.

The second-seeded Heat won the best-of-7 series 4-2 and will meet third-seeded New Jersey in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Paul tops rookie team

Chris Paul of New Orleans, who led all rookies with 21 double-doubles, was a unanimous selection to the NBA all-rookie team.

Paul topped the first team with 58 points, followed by Toronto’s Charlie Villanueva (56), Milwaukee’s Andrew Bogut (55), Utah’s Deron Williams (46) and New York’s Channing Frye (45) in balloting by the league’s head coaches.

The second team included Indiana’s Danny Granger, Charlotte’s Raymond Felton, Houston’s Luther Head, Atlanta’s Marvin Williams and Boston’s Ryan Gomes.