NBA Game: Suns vs. Lakers
NBA Game: Suns vs. Lakers
Kobe Bryant may have scored a game-high 39 points in Game 1 of the Lakers? opening-round series versus the Suns, but it wasn?t enough to net Los Angeles a win as Phoenix toppled the Lakers 95-87 on Sunday.
The Lakers took an early lead in Game 1 and were still leading at halftime, but everything changed after the break. Bryant went from hitting everything he threw at the basket to missing shots he usually would have made with his eyes closed. The result was that Bryant only scored 11 of his 39 points in the second half. Only two other Laker players scored in double figures with Lamar Odom adding 17 points and 16 rebounds (when he wasn?t getting a cut above his right eye stitched up), and Luke Walton with 10 points.
While the Lakers were having trouble scoring in the second half, the Suns exploded. Leandro Barbosa must have stolen Bryant?s shooting touch at the half because he went on to score 19 points in the second half and finish with a NBA team-high 26 points. Unlike Bryant, Barbosa received plenty of support with Amare Stoudemire adding 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Steve Nash was his usual efficient self with 20 points and 10 points. Shawn Marion also had a stellar game with 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Phoenix scoring a ton of points isn?t a new development, though; what is new is the Suns playing solid defense. The Suns not only kept Bryant off the scoresheet in the fourth quarter, but limited the entire Lakers? squad to only 10 points. If Phoenix can find a way to maintain that kind of defense through the 2007 playoffs, they?ll easily knock off the Lakers and maybe even finally win that championship that has been eluding them for the last couple of years.
Game 2 in this series goes in Phoenix on Tuesday night (10:30 ET, TNT). The Suns (-9.5, -110) opened as heavy favorites to defeat the Lakers once again, which is not surprising considering Phoenix has now won four in a row versus Los Angeles and seven of their last eight meetings.
Check out the NBA Basketball Betting Odds at WagerWeb.com
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