Game Two Preview and Pick: Must Win For Suns Against Lakers?

Kobe Bryant played like a man, scoring 40 points and he had enough time to put up 50. Pau Gasol dominated inside and had his way as he seemed to score whenever he wanted to. 

The Suns were just 5 for 22 from behind the three point arc and when the dust settled the Suns had been beaten and beaten badly. The Lakers won by 21 points and it could have been much worse. 

They say in the NBA playoffs that it is not a true series until a team loses at home, but the Lakers looked as though they might never lose a game in this series and at times looked as though they were playing with the Phoenix Suns. So with all of that being said is Game 2 on Wednesday night a must win for the Suns?

 

Phoenix @ Lakers Game Two Pick

For the Suns to win Game 2, they have plenty of adjustments to make. They can’t stop Kobe from scoring but they can hope he does not drop 40 on them with ease. When asked about Kobe, coach Alvin Gentry said, “It does not matter. He makes shots and he’ll make shots against anybody.”

These are the daunting numbers that face them going into Game 2. The Suns allowed the Lakers to shoot 58% from the field and 47.1% from three-point range. The Suns allowed the Lakers to score 56 points in the paint. The Suns trailed by 28 points in the fourth and never recovered. 

My theory is that it has to get better in game two for the Suns. They can’t shoot any worse and the Lakers will be hard pressed to reproduce that type of effort.

Steve Nash knows exactly what this team has to do.

“They’re probably going to continue to be taller than us as the series goes on, so we’ve got to make everything as tough as possible,” said Nash, whose injured eye didn’t bother him.

“We played hard, but we didn’t make enough shots, and we had a few too many breakdowns.” Every team has been taller and owned the boards against this team, but the Suns still have played tough after an embarrassing loss like this one I look for them to respond.

Bet Phioenix has the Lakers as 6.5 point favorites and this was the first thing that caught my eye. The oddsmakers did not adjust the line at all from the posted odds of Game 1. I checked with the TOP TEN SPORTSBOOKS and all of them had the line close to the line for Game 1.

The Suns are the play in Game 2. They will play better defense and will have a much better shooting percentage from behind the arc, keeping this game much closer. The Suns are 22-7 ATS in their last 29 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game and 7-0 ATS in their last seven games following a ATS loss. 

The Lakers are 5-15-1 ATS in their last 21 games playing on one day's rest and the crowds will flock to the Lakers after Game 1. Don’t follow the masses, follow the smart money and bet on the Phoenix Suns!