<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Be afraid. Be very afraid. That has to be the mental state of the Phoenix Suns going into Game 3 against the Los Angeles Lakers as 3-point underdogs Friday night. And, no, the reason has nothing to do with Kobe Bryant?s MVP vendetta or Jack Nicholson and the rest of the Hollywood glitterati in the Staples Center crowd. Phil Jackson, the Zen Master in the three-piece suit who is an astonishing 32-10 straight up and 28-14 ATS in Game 3s since the 1990-91 season, is the main reason for the Suns? foreboding. Even more impressive, Jackson?s teams are 11-5 both straight up and ATS when they go into the third game having split the first two contests. ?I definitely put more stock in the ATS record,? says Covers Expert Steve Merril. ?Those Lakers and Bulls teams were dynasties that were going to win but had to cover some inflated numbers. That just shows that Jackson had them performing above expectations.? Arguably, it is Jackson and the rest of the Los Angeles coaching staff that has the Lakers in the driver?s seat in the series, tied 1-1 with three of the next five games scheduled for Los Angeles. After all, it?s the 10-time NBA champion who has Kobe averaging just 22.5 shots through the first two games (coincidentally, this is the same number of field-goal attempts averaged during the 2001 and 2002 championship runs), yet the Lakers are averaging more points than they did during the regular season. ?Phil and I both knew I was going to have to shoulder the scoring load during the regular season as everyone learned the offense,? Bryant told the Los Angeles Times. ?But in the playoffs, everybody has a rhythm for the game. We just started attacking teams as a unit.? What?s been more impressive is how Jackson has the Lakers playing on the defensive end. In order to stop the fast-breaking Suns, Jackson has Los Angeles playing disciplined transition defense, making sure to have at least three bodies back to stop any easy hoops and force a decrease in the tempo of the game. </div> Source
