Lakers Split With Suns
Lakers 111, Suns 99
The Suns came into this game with a 12-19 record, the third-worst in the Western Conference. Amare is gone, Grant Hill is 39 years old and Nash, 37, is probably on the
way out of Phoenix via retirement or trade, possibly this season. Gortat is one of the league’s best centers and I love Jared Dudley but the rest of the roster doesn’t scare anybody. Guys like Grant Hill and Channing Frye, who should be bench players, are starters. Which reminds me of the Lakers, who also start two players who should be bench players.
What makes the Suns tough is that, unlike the Lakers, they lack all-galaxy superduperstars, and thus do play as a team which, vis-à-vis the Lakers, is like a mirror held up to Dracula.
There are several ways for the Lakers to beat the Suns–or anyone, for that matter. The Lakers, however, have decided that there will only be one way for them to win and that way mandates that Kobe take twice as many shots as Pau and Bynum combined and to score lots of points. In fact, more points than anyone in the league. Thus, Kobe Bryant leads the NBA in scoring (28.9 ppg) and has taken more shots than anyone. In fact, 150 more shots than the second guy on the list—Kevin Durant.
The Lakers committed 19 turnovers but it didn’t hurt them because the Suns had 17 themselves. They had a nine-point lead at halftime and stretched it to 14 points after three quarters, but, being the Lakers, let the Suns back in the game, as they whittled the lead to five with just under five minutes remaining.
Kobe went off for 36 points, shooting 14-25 from the field, with nine rebounds and six assists. As is often the case, when Kobe shoots that much, Pau suffers offensively because he can’t consistently get the ball enough, especially where he wants it. Ditto Bynum. Each of them took 13 shots. Not enough to dominate, as they are able to do against the undersized Suns.
Barnes was terrific off the bench with 17 points on 6-7 shooting and seven rebounds, two steals and no turnovers in his 23 minutes.
Suns 112, Lakers 90
In this re-match two days later, the Suns utterly destroyed the Lakers and they didn’t even play that great. But, hate to sound corny again, they did play as a team. I know, so 20th century.
This time, the notion that it’s a good thing for Kobe to take twice as many shots as Pau and Bynum combined (aka The Laker Way), led to a blitz of major proportions. Oh, so that formula is not a sure thing. Dang. Back to the drawing board.
The Suns led by 23 at the half and stretched it to 27 in the 3rd quarter, the largest Laker deficit of the season. Against a 12-19 team! The difference between the Lakers and the Suns is that the Laker offense goes through Kobe and the Suns offense goes through Steve Nash, the team’s, you know, point guard. And that’s the difference between the Lakers and virtually every other good team they play. Those teams all have dynamic point guards who run the show and get everyone involved. Kobe, on the other hand, runs the show and gets Kobe involved. That’s why Kobe will lead the league in scoring and the Lakers will not do well in the playoffs, if they wind up there at all.
The Suns got cold suddenly late in the game and Lakers made a run but never broke into single-digits.
Kobe scored 32 points on 11-24 shooting (1-8 on 3-pointers) and committed 10 turnovers. And played 40 minutes!
Bynum (17 points, 14 rebounds) looked dominant but played only 28 minutes. Inquiring minds wonder why. Pau scored 17 points (with 12 boards) but only took 11 shots. Ridiculous.
Two of the Laker starters—World Peace and Fisher—combined for a grand total of two points, one assist and three rebounds. World Peace chipped in his obligatory 0-2 from the foul line. I think he leads the league in going 0-2 from the foul line.
The Lakers turned it over 18 times, with seven steals. The Suns had 11 turnovers and 10 steals. The Lakers shot 3-18 on 3-pointers.
Much has been said about the great Steve Nash. His 14 assists gave him 31 for both games combined, but very little ink is spilled for Marcin Gortat, the Polish Hammer. He’s terrific at everything but is probably better than any other big man in the NBA in hitting the seemingly easy but usually difficult in-traffic three-to-five foot shot. He nails it consistently. It’s the shot that Chris Kaman cannot make to save his life.