Lakers Bounce Back, 95-89 Lakers (Series 2-1, Suns)

A confused Raja talks to a visibly disgusted Nash.

Well, it was bound to happen and, honestly, I can't say I'm surprised that it happened. The Suns go nuts in game 2 and absolutely demolish the Lakers in every aspect. Everyone jumps on the "SWEEP!" bandwagon, people start talking like the series is already over, and, to top it all off, the Suns actually believed them.

After a quick start, jumping out to a 17 point lead in the beginning of the first quarter, the Suns decided that the game was over. That's really the only way to describe the complete lack of focus, teamwork, and effort that went forth in that game... it makes me shudder.

Notice how Amare thinks the game is over in the first half.

The Lakers fought back, playing great perimeter defense, and rebounding. (Shammond Williams and Smush Parker did very well in the backcourt, and Lamar Odom was trapping like he actually knows how to play defense tonight. Hell, after a couple more games of this it may actually be reasonable to say that he really does know how to play defense.) The Suns got outrebounded by 9 (44 to 35), while giving up 19 offensive rebounds (-13 in that category). After the Suns decided the game was over, the Lakers similarly decided that the game was just getting started. (And, considering it was the beginning of the second quarter that this happened, they would be absolutely correct.) Amare Stoudemire, while trying to stay out of foul trouble, allowed Kwame Brown to have his way inside as Kwame put down a few baby hooks, dunks, and actually made a nice spin move to free himself of Stoudemire, who looked on as though he was wondering who possessed Kwame Brown's body and made that move.

Amare, mere seconds away from letting Kwame Brown get an easy bucket.

On to the third quarter, where Steve Nash makes a couple boneheaded turnovers and, even more importantly, failed to make the passes when he needed to, choosing instead to hold on to the ball longer than he ought to and try to pull everything out and try again. Shawn Marion, having been a ghost the whole game, continued to do absolutely nothing on the defensive or offensive end. Marion's game is predicated upon hustle and he didn't seem to put much effort in the game. Generally his complete lack of ability to create off the dribble and finish lay-ups is masked by the fact that he's running at 120 miles an hour and making all the little plays, but tonight it wasn't.

Cut to the fourth quarter, where Leandro Barbosa and Boris Diaw are actually playing pretty well. In fact, Leandro Barbosa was the one bright spot in this game (22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 5-11 from three point land), hitting several tough shots including the game tying three in the fourth quarter. (To be fair, Amare played very well on the offensive end and rebounded reasonably well, which still doesn't make up for the fact that his defense was absolutely atrocious.) A couple times tonight Boris started playing like he actually cared about what was happening on the court and drew some fouls, made some plays, and really boosted his play to something approaching good.

Cut scene to Kobe Bryant going absolutely crazy on Raja Bell, Shawn Marion, and basically anyone else that got in front of him. Kobe decided that he wasn't settling for the mid-range jumpers early on, and it worked out superbly. He went 15-26 from the field, 13-13 from the charity stripe, and all the while got his teammates involved in the game. (6 assists.) Towards the end he started forcing up bad shots from 16-20 feet away, but the Suns failed to capitalize as they made mistake after mistake on the offensive end, their tie midway through the fourth quarter gone as quickly as it was gotten. I was particularly impressed by Shawn Marion wildly flinging the ball two handed from above his head at the rim while flying through the lane. That play signified tonight's game for the Suns: Sloppy, ugly, and extremely uncoordinated.

Kobe takes it to the hole.

A note of interest. When the game came down to the line and D'Antoni decided what play he wanted to draw up to try to make up the deficit, he drew an inbound play to Amare Stoudemire for a three pointer in the corner. This says several things. 1) We need to make sure Phil Jackson didn't draw up that play. 2) Amare Stoudemire's three point range has possibly come along far enough that D'Antoni feels he can hit them now. 3) That Nash, Raja, or Leandro should have taken the shot.

Oh, and a note to whoever is guarding Lamar Odom... Make him go right. Make him go right. For the love of GOD make him go right. Every single last one of his buckets was him making a quick move left and scoring with his left. His right arm is basically useless, exploit that. Good Lord.

Congratulations, Lakers (and Lakers fans). Let's see if this turns into a series.