Phoenix Suns Sick After Los Angeles Lakers' Contagious Shooting
First it was Ron Artest.
Lamar Odom caught fire next, getting uncontested lanes to his left a-la Ginobili in '07.
That was followed by Kobe's jaw-dropping 20-point third quarter, featuring his signature turn-arounds, forays to the rim and trips to the line.
By the time the Lakers' bench appeared in the fourth, they had a 19-point lead and a no-pressure situation to work with, giving them all the confidence they needed (and perhaps a springboard for the rest of the series).
In short, the Suns' heralded improved defense didn't show in Game One, landing them a 128-107 shellacking at the hand of the defending champs.
Suns homers will shake their heads and say, "Well, Kobe was on," or "The Lakers' aura definitely influenced the officiating."
While both counts are true, Phoenix can only blame themselves for the debacle. Instead of showing the grit that made them unexpected contenders, the Suns regressed to their 2005-08 ways -- they played no defense, panicked when the chips were down, and seemed resigned to their fate.
They dared Ron Artest to shoot, and he ended up making Phoenix seem crazier than he is. They went soft on Lamar Odom, while he was anything but on them (for one game, at least, with 19 points and 19 rebounds). They let Kobe score 10 in the third quarter, and then, instead of getting the ball out of his hands, let him tack on ten more. By then, it was too late.
In other words, the Suns let the Lakers get going, one by one, until their feel-good offensive vibe affected everyone down to D.J. Mbenga.
Yeah, it was that bad.
Amare Stoudemire was the microcosm of the absent Suns' D, letting Pau Gasol treat him like a traffic cone. The Spaniard went around, under, over and through Stoudemire whenever he wanted, while Lopez was little better in that matchup.
The few times the Suns did get stops, they allowed the Lakers second and third-chance points.
That's the thing that will upset Suns' fans. Phoenix allowed the Lakers to establish their will. That's not what got Phoenix this far -- it's what got Phoenix eliminated in playoffs past.
Offensively, Channing Frye (probably to Phoenix what Lamar Odom is to L.A.) continued to be roadkill on the road, shooting a pathetic 1-for-7 from three. His one rebound also reinforced how his shot's absence makes him a complete non-factor, something Phoenix can't afford.
All the while, Coach of the Year candidate Alvin Gentry morphed to his Clippers' days and did nothing except tell the Suns to "play their game."
Hey Alvin, giving up 60-percent shooting is not, and should not, be the Suns' game.
On the flip-side, Robin Lopez's return went better than anyone in Phoenix could've hoped (14 points, six rebounds, and the only positive plus-minus on the team), but the big man obviously lacked any explosiveness jumping-wise. That allowed Odom, Kobe and the rest of the Lake Show to get to the rim.
Two other grudging moral victories the Suns will take with them: 1) Goran Dragic was unshaken by the big lights of the scene (13 points, three rebounds, two assists) and 2) the Suns' offense, other than three-point shooting, still clicked (49-percent).
If Phoenix hopes for a split, they'll need to enforce something defensively in Game 2, instead of letting Players X, Y and Z go off at different points of the game.
The new Phoenix has shown they can do that. Unfortunately, the old Phoenix is the team that showed up.
