Closing Out the Series - 119-110 Suns (Series 4-1, Suns)

Game 5, and the Suns showed up to play. I expected them to play a bit lazy, I expected them to come out a bit slow... but not so much. The game started with a four point play from James Jones and a quick 8 points from Raja. The Lakers fought hard the whole game, but the Suns really just put them down and kept them down the whole time. Only three players came to play for the Lakers, and Jordan Farmar really isn't talented enough that him coming to play really made a big impact. The Suns had it clicking from nearly all angles, even with Nash having an off game.

Spirit fingers!

First, let's start with the player of the game: Amare. Amare really forced the Lakers to respect him, and even when the pulled up on him, he was still killing them. He wasn't finishing as good as he normally does, his jumper was a bit shaky... but none of it mattered, because the Lakers simply couldn't contain him. Amare went off for 27 points (6/16 FG, 15/21 FT) and 16 rebounds (4 offensive), along with two steals. (Something that Amare has really been getting after of late, actually. You look at nearly any box score and Amare has at least one steal, and quite often he ends up with 3-4.) Once again, Amare crashed the boards, played fairly good defense (until he got into foul trouble and let Ronny Turiaf school him), and most importantly got the entire Lakers front line into foul trouble. (Luke Walton: 6 fouls, Lamar Odom: 6 fouls, Ronny Turiaf: 4 fouls, Brian Cook: 4 fouls, Kwame Brown: 3 fouls (in 20 minutes, Philly J pretty much pulled him after he got 3 quick fouls because he was playing like crap.)) Overall, Amare cemented his status as a big time playoff performer, carrying over from two years ago.

Amare with the monster cram straight around, over, and through Ronny Turiaf.

And speaking of playoff performers, Leandro Barbosa! 18 points (6/12 FG, 3/7 3PT, 3/4 FT) off the bench, and a *ton* of headaches for the Lakers. His impact went well beyond the 18 points he had. When he got buckets, they were demoralizing and debilitating. Four Lakers are back on defense, Nash just chucks the ball up court and expects Leandro to run past them and get it. And he did, too, he got the ball and got the bucket. There's nothing anybody could do about it either, and that clearly upset the Lakers who were starting to make a run. He opened up the floor, forced the defense to collapse on him, and drew superstar type of attention whenever he made moves to get to the bucket, opening up the floor for Diaw to get the ball wide open at the 18 foot mark, dribble around for a couple seconds and throw the ball somewhere else (As he's very prone to do.), which doesn't sound good, but the ball movement and floor spacing made it so that everyone on the floor could get a good look nearly at will. I can't stress enough how big Leandro has been this series, and I expect him to continue with the big performances, we'll definitely need them against the Spurs.

Kobe being a good sport, a few words of encouragement for Leandro.

Speaking of people we'll need against the Spurs, how about Shawn Marion? (How do you like that segue, eh? Good stuff right there.) Once again, he showed up in Matrix form instead of Marion form, and the whole team benefited. Shawn's off-ball movement caused headaches for the Lakers all night, and he was also part of the most impressive series of events from game 5 when he caught two consecutive alley-oops from Nash. The crowd went nuts, and everyone watching at home presumably went nuts. (I know I did.) An impresesive line with 26 points (11/21 FG), 10 rebounds (3 offensive), 3 steals, 2 blocks, and a three whole bags of hustle. (You can only buy hustle in bags, by the by. If someone tries to sell you a case of hustle, it's fake.) Keep it up, Shawn. We can't beat the Spurs without you.

Shawn glides in for the dunk. But... what is Odom doing?

Oddly enough, Nash really wasn't in sync the whole game, which is why it's so surprising that we were in control the whole game. Nash finished with 17 points (5/15 FG, 7/8 FT), 10 assists, and an unusual 7 turnovers. Nash made some uncharacteristic mistakes and didn't seem to be all there mentally for periods of the game, so I'm glad we could pull the game out with Nash being a bit off. The Suns have definitely matured in that aspect, and a lot of that is thanks to Amare being out there and dictating the offensive flow with his aggressive moves in the post. Because of Amare and Leandro, Nash can have an off game and the Suns aren't doomed in the process, it's very refreshing.

I can't make this one any funnier...

On the Lakers end, Kobe and Lamar both had exceptional games. Kobe finished with 34 points (13/33 FG, 2/8 3PT, 6/7 FT), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 6 turnovers. Kobe had a very good first half, but in the second half he was just harassed by double and triple teams. He got trapped and collapsed on every time he put the ball on the floor, and that's really all you can hope for is to contain him. 34 points (13/33 FG, 2/8 3PT, 6/7 FT), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 6 turnovers. Kobe had a very good first half, but in the second half he was just harassed by double and triple teams. He got trapped and collapsed on every time he put the ball on the floor, and that's really all you can hope for is to contain him. Lamar Odom had a monster game with 33 points (13/21 FG, 6/9 FT), 10 rebounds (6 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block. The whole series I've been yelling at the TV "FORCE HIM RIGHT! FORCE HIM RIGHT!" They did so once today, and then they didn't box him out after he missed (He'll never make it going right!!) so he got the offensive rebound and put it back up. If the Suns organization is interested, I'll do the scouting reports for them. I'll do it for very little money and the personal satisfaction of knowing that I'd be helping the Suns organization. ... What? Nobody from the Suns organization reads this blog? Total jip.

So here's to a good series from the Lakers. They definitely made it interesting, and they definitely made it entertaining.