lakers vs suns the best team wins
If the Phoenix Suns learnt anything from Monday night against the Lakers, it’s that sometimes when a great player decides he’s going to take over a game there’s nothing you can do about it.
Kobe Bryant can do that and even with a hand in his face Bryant is so talented he will make the shot; the Suns found that out on Monday when they lost 128-107 to the LA Lakers. The Lakers superstar scored 40 points as LA rolled to a comfortable Western Conference finals game one win.
Even with a swollen knee and several other ailments Bryant dominated the game and with the help of Lamar Odom, who scored 19 points and grabbed 19 rebounds, and an efficient Paul Gasol, who went 10-13 from the field, the Lakers used their size to bully the run and gun Suns.
"They played great, one of the best games I've seen them play in the play-offs this season, Kobe kind of controlled the whole game. I thought we could have withstood the game that he had ... but when he's making his jumper like that, there's not a whole lot you can do about it,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said after the game.
Combine the physical advantage with only nine turnovers all game and eight more rebounds than the Suns, and Phoenix never stood a chance - if it wasn’t for the fact that the Suns actually played some defence, the score could have been even worse for Gentry’s men.
Amar’e Stoudemire led the Suns in scoring with 23 and Steve Nash had 13 points to go along with 13 assists, but with Channing Frye going 1-8 from the field and Grant Hill unable to stop Bryant the Suns were just mismatched all game.
"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. We played hard, but we didn't make enough shots, and we had a few too many breakdowns," Nash said after the game.
Game two takes place on Wednesday in LA again and if the Suns are to stand any chance of winning the series Wednesday is already a must-win game.
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