Kobe Remains An Ageless Wonder

The aging Los Angeles Lakers were just a tad younger tonight, beating old school Steve Nash and his Phoenix Suns 99-83 as Kobe Bryant poured in 48-points. Two proud franchises, one formerly known for its fast-break tempo called Showtime with championships galore and the other, for putting up points faster than a scorekeeper could keep track, met Tuesday evening and the end result was more akin to a leisurely walk in the park. In fact, with all of the aging veterans out on the floor, the scoring pace was eerily similar to an alumni game of donkey basketball. Steve Nash, (13 points, 8 assists, 1 rebounds), all 37-yrs of age, continues to baffle Father Time and remains an efficient floor general. But the Lakers have an ageless wonder of their own and he rendered the Suns completely helpless with an offensive outburst unmatched this season.

Steve Nash may have lost a step but he remains one of the best all-around point guards in the NBA while Kobe Bryant continues to be one of the greatest of all time. Copyrights may apply. All rights reserved.

Kobe Bryant (48 points on 18-31, 12-13 free throws, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals) was the only reliable source of offense, jump-shooting his way to 23-first half points. One of the more entertaining match-ups of the first half pitted Kobe against former teammate Shannon Brown (11 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal). Kobe displayed that it’s easier to be his running mate than to guard him by schooling everyone that tried to guard him in classic Kobe fashion. Meanwhile, Nash was dazzling early, weaving his way through the pick-and-roll for six points in the first few minutes of the game. But as has been the case, it was soon nap time for Nash as he took his customary soiree midway through the first period well into the second. That enabled the Lakers to slow down the Phoenix offense, limiting them to poor looks at the basket and good enough for a 46-42 lead at halftime.

Nash was active again to start the 3rd period, scoring a quick 7-points to help the Suns charge back in front. Marcin Gortat (16 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists) and Channing Frye (17 points, 3 rebounds) were the recipients of many of Nash’s dimes to lead the way for the Suns. But the second unit of the Lakers helped restore order with better ball movement and offensive execution. Metta World Peace (5 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal), Luke Walton (6 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal in 26-minutes) and Steve Blake (3 points, 8 assists) combined to help bolster the depleted Lakers bench due to the illness of Troy Murphy, the foot injury sustained by Josh McRoberts and the birth of newborn twins to proud papa, Jason Kapono.

Brown took advantage of his former benchmates with a trio of buckets to start the 4th quarter drawing Phoenix to within 75-74. The Lakers gained some distance with scores by Kobe, Matt Barnes (4 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists) and Pau Gasol (16 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists), but the Suns countered with the long ball behind Brown and Frye, all while Nash rested peacefully on the bench and closed the gap to 83-82. Nash finally returned with 5:56 left but the Lakers took control of the game behind an active defense and a heavy dose of Kobe stretching the lead back up to 89-82. Kobe’s drive and dunk around a statuesque Grant Hill, followed by a reverse alley-oop dunk off a feed from Barnes ended any thoughts of a Phoenix comeback. The rest was gravy as Kobe continued to dazzle and amaze as the Lakers ended the game on a 16-1 run and improved to 7-4 overall. Next up is a late night flight for a date tomorrow night against the Utah Jazz.