As the Lakers Rise, the Suns Set

Pounding the Phoenix Suns into submission, the Los Angeles Lakers prevailed 108-88 at Staples Center. Both teams started at a blistering offensive pace, the Suns through penetration drives by Steve Nash (12 points, 10 assists), the Lakers by capitalizing with their bigs, Pau Gasol (14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) and Andrew Bynum (13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists). Ball movement was key as the Lakers swung the ball fluidly, finding open perimeter shots for Ron Artest (15 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists) and Kobe Bryant (26 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists). The Suns offered little defensive prowess and chose to get in a shooting battle with the Lakers. And the Lakers obliged, quickly going up, 22-13 just six and a half minutes into the game. But the Suns thrive on a frenetic pace and behind Amare Stoudemire (18 points, 8 rebounds), were able to chip away at the lead. A double pump drive by Kobe gave the Lakers a 29-26 advantage at the end of one.

Second quarter action started with the same fast pace action of the first. Shannon Brown (12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists) nailed a three pointer in transition after Lamar Odom (4 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocked shots) blocked a layup attempt by back-up Goran Dragic. LO missed a dunk attempt off a beautiful feed from Kobe, but the newlywed made up for his miscue with his usual game of snaring rebounds and dishing out assists. The shooting cooled for the Lakers as the Suns crept back, knotting the score at 35-35 with 7:11 left in the half. Silly fouls and errant passes kept the Suns in the game as they struggled to find the range. A Jordan Farmar (11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist) trey from the top of the key and a pair of free throws from Artest put the lead back up to six, 41-35. A twisting, over-the-head layup by Farmar off a feed from Gasol, then another three pointer from out on top pushed the lead to 46-37.

Grant Hill (12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) scored on a post move, and then picked off an errant entry pass from Artest, allowing the Suns to once again, crawl back into the contest. Hill looked fresher than he has in the past half dozen years and was able to easily take Gasol off the dribble, scoring on a baseline drive. Derek Fisher’s (7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal) trey momentarily stopped the bleeding but Nash was fouled on the ensuing play and effortlessly dropped in a pair of free throws. The Lakers went away from dumping the ball into their bigs and fell into a jump-shooting contest with the Suns. A time-out by Phil Jackson reminded them of their size advantage and soon thereafter, the Lakers made an effort to start from inside out. A 19-9 run to close out the half had the Lakers on top of Phoenix, 54-44.

Learning, and perhaps hearing more about it during halftime, the Lakers established Bynum in the paint and he responded with 6 quick points, giving them a 61-46 lead two and a half minutes into the third. It was then Gasol’s turn in the paint as he scored over and around Stoudamire who tried in vain to guard him. A lob flush by Bynum plus the foul gave them their biggest lead at 68-52. Nash and Stoudemire continued to score from outside but the Lakers began picking the Suns apart with precision passes inside for easy scores. And as the Lakers defense responded to the Suns perimeter-only offense, their offense began to flourish as well.

The Lakers defense can be summed up in two separate plays. On one set, Artest (5 steals) bothered Stoudemire after the Suns all-star gathered a defensive rebound. Instead of racing back up-court, he stayed back and harassed the power forward, finally tipping, and then picking off his outlet pass. This resulted in a 4-on-1 as Kobe was fouled driving to the hoop. The second defensive stand also occurred in the third period when LO came over for the quick double team on Amare, who had Farmar pinned in the post. Lamar squared him up, took three hard chest bumps from the star forward who tried to drive to the basket, never giving up any ground, finally forcing him into a poor shot selection out of frustration. The Lakers grabbed the rebound and were off to the races. Gasol got the ball in the post and fed a cutting Odom for the lay-in off the glass. In both instances, defense led to high percentage offense. Phoenix was unable to counter the relentless Lakers defense. And although their perimeter shots were falling, whenever they faltered, the Lakers pounced on the opportunity.

The 4th period saw the Lakers maintain their 20-point lead as Artest drained a three pointer and Brown added two treys of his own, and soon thereafter, Nash and Stoudemire were comfortably planted on the sidelines as the Suns waved the white flag and cleared their bench. It was garbage time early as Josh Powell, DJ Mbenga, Sasha Vujacic and Adam Morrison were allowed into the game. Phil’s shorter rotation has paid dividends as the Lakers have settled into a finer tuned first and second unit with predictable efficiency and results. No last second heroics were needed by Kobe tonight, but on the bright side, free tacos were distributed again.