<span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%">Game 2</span>April 24, 2007 on 10:30 PM EST7:30 PM PSTPhoenix leads the series 1-0 PG: Jordan Farmar - 4.4 PPG, 1.9 APG, 1.7 RPG, .61 SPGSG: Kobe Bryant - 31.6 PPG, 5.4 APG, 5.7 RPG, 1.44 SPGSF: Luke Walton - 11.4 PPG, 4.3 APG, 5.0 RPG, 1.00 SPGPF: Lamar Odom - 15.9 PPG, 4.8 APG, 9.8 RPG, .95 SPGC: Kwame Brown - 8.4 PPG, 1.8 APG, 6.0 RPG, 1.2 BPG PG: Steve Nash - 18.6 PPG, 11.6 APG, 3.5 RPG, 0.75 SPGSG: Raja Bell - 14.7 PPG, 2.5 APG, 3.2 RPG, 0.64 SPGSF: James Jones - 6.4 PPG, 0.6 APG, 2.3 RPG, 0.55 BPGPF: Shawn Marion - 17.5 PPG, 1.7 APG, 9.8 RPG, 1.95 SPG, 1.53 BPGC: Amare Stoudemire - 24.0 PPG, 1.0 APG, 9.6 RPG, 1.34 BPG<u>Los Angeles Key Players Off Bench</u>Maurice Evans - 8.4 PPG, 1.0 APG, 2.9 RPG, 0.5 SPGRonny Turiaf - 5.3 PPG, 0.9 APG, 3.6 RPG, 0.9 SPGVladimir Radmanovic - 6.6 PPG, 1.2 APG, 3.3 RPGBrian Cook - 6.9 PPG, 1.0 APG, 3.3 RPGAndrew Bynum - 7.8 PPG, 1.1 APG, 5.9 RPG, 1.56 BPG<u>Phoenix Key Players Off Bench</u>Leandro Barbosa - 18.1 PPG, 4.0 APG, 2.7 RPG, 1.2 SPGBoris Diaw - 9.7 PPG, 4.8 APG, 4.3 RPGKurt Thomas - 4.6 PPG, 0.4 APG, 5.7 RPG<u>Key Matchup</u>May 3, 2006. Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers. NBA Playoffs. Game 6. This is what it's all about. Raja Bell commits a very hard foul on Kobe Bryant grabbing him by the neck and throwing him onto the floor. Ejection. Suspension. A new rivalry is born. After this, I think Kobe Bryant really wants redemption on Raja Bell and the Phoenix Suns. This matchup is going to be key because not only is Kobe going to have to step up on the offensive end but Raja Bell is going to have to contain him and not make any stupid fouls taking himself out of the game and forcing one of the bench players to play Kobe, the most explosive scorer in the NBA. This matchup will not only be key in Game-1 but through the entire series. Can Kobe get hot and can he be stopped? That's the question.<u>Los Angeles X-Factor</u>Lamar OdomLamar really needs to be aggressive offensively. He's going to most likely be defended by one of the best defenders in the league, Shawn Marion. He needs to take advantage of the height advantage he has on Marion (Nearly 3 inches) and be aggressive like he was last year. He needs to be efficiant and make most of his shots, to take the pressure off of Kobe.<u>Phoenix X-Factor</u>Raja BellRaja needs to play very tough defense on Kobe and get in his face. He needs to limit Kobe's shots and make him hit tough shots. If Kobe shoots less than 40% because of the amount of shots he takes, the Suns are able to win this game with their fast paced offense. Bell just needs to contain Kobe because Kobe can't be stopped but he can be contained.<u>Los Angeles Injuries</u>None<u>Phoenix Suns Injuries</u>None------------------------------------------------------------Game 1 Recap - Suns 95 - Lakers 86Leandro Barbosa, leading 6th Man of the Year candidate, led the way for the Suns while in the 2nd-half Kobe Bryant struggled from the field. Kobe started off hot in the first half, scoring 28 points, as the Lakers controlled the game and made the shots they needed to make while the Suns struggled from the field. The Lakers led 48 - 39 at the half. Leandro Barbosa scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half, including 15 consecutive points for Phoenix at one point, tying his career high in the playoffs. Amare Stoudemire scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in his first time in the postseason since the 2004/2005 season. As usual, the reigning MVP, Steve Nash had a good game, scoring 20 points and dishing out 10 assists. Bryant scored 39, but only 11 in the second half. The NBA's scoring champ was 1-for-10 shooting in the fourth quarter, when Phoenix pulled away. The key to Phoenix's victory was containing Kobe and making him take bad shots, a trap that he fell into. The Suns outscored the Lakers 21 to 10 in the 4th quarter and really controlled the tempo of the game in the 2nd half. Good win by the Suns. I expect both teams to come out strong in the next game, with Phoenix looking to take a 2-0 advantage and the Lakers looking to take home court advantage away from the Suns.<u>Next 3 Games</u> Game 3: Thu., Apr. 26 @ LAL, 10:30, TNT Game 4: Sun., Apr. 29 @ LAL, 3:30, ABC Game 5: Wed., May 2 @ PHX, TBDThoughts and predictions on the game and series?
Should be another fun game! Kobe will go wild again but I definitley expect the Suns to pull out the win. :dribble:
This game is big. It would be best to win this series in 5 and if we want to do that then this is a must-win. I'm hoping that they have more of a killer mentality than the Suns team last year because we can't have so many long series again. The Suns need to hit their 3's. The Lakers play good D on them, but they can't miss the open ones so much like they did tonight. The defense needs to more consistently limit Kobe...we can't see another big half like that. I'm looking forward to the game. Lets keep home court!
In game 1 we didn't run our offense in the final 8 minutes, Kobe's shot wasn't there (due to being tired, and the Suns throwing every player they have at him) and Barbosa ate Smush alive for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We can't stand around and watch Kobe...players have to move, get open, and we have to run the offense.We'll take game 2. Count on it
The Lakers need to run their triangle with confidence in eachother, and they need to stop looking to Kobe. If Kobe is in a rhythm, fine, but if he's cold like he was last game, stop, and balance.
I don't see the Suns having as much trouble this time round. The Lakers did well and were making some good shots but the only reason they were leading was because the Suns were shooting so badly. That doesn't happen very often for Phoenix and I can't see it happening again.
Agreed with Milgod... I think the Suns should be able to take care of the Lakers in this next game, and hopefully this series won't go on any longer than 5 games or so.
The game 1 nerves are gone and the Suns want game 2 even more than game 1. It's obvious that the Suns can dominate the Lakers anytime they want right now and both teams know it.
Funny that you put so many players under lakers key bench when like all but 1 of those guys is guaranteed to do exactly nothing on any given night.
Game 1 was winnable for the Lakers, even with Phoenix's run in the second half. Excusing S2S's arrogance(you should wait until they at least win a f*cking title first), this should be competitive, I don't see how it can't, nobody is out of a game against Phoenix, it's just scoring more points than them is the hard part.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Michael Bryant @ Apr 23 2007, 04:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Game 1 was winnable for the Lakers, even with Phoenix's run in the second half. Excusing S2S's arrogance(you should wait until they at least win a f*cking title first), this should be competitive, I don't see how it can't, nobody is out of a game against Phoenix, it's just scoring more points than them is the hard part.</div>kobe can't win a title without shaq anyway, you should wait until he can. We're a much superior team when we're firing on all cylinders(hell, even half of our cylinders), this game wouldn't have been competitive if the Suns hadn't been throwing up bricks in the first half.
Maybe, you might be right about that. But still, Kobe doesn't have to prove anything. Shaq needed Kobe, Penny and Wade just as much as they needed him, come on. I mean the Suns don't even have one trophy! Come on! at least one.
I think Shaq was much more important to the team than Kobe was. Just look at their records in those years when one of those guys was injured. They were a much better team with Shaq than with Kobe.And I don't care about the Lakers past. There's no Shaq, no Magic, no Kareem, no Worthy, no Chamberlain right now. If we were playing them it would mean something right now, but currently they are as threatening on our road to the 'chip as the Boston Celtics and their 16 championships. There's Luke Walton though. :shok: Scary.
Kind of intruiging stats from game 1: Bryant had 33 field goals and one assist in 43 minutes and the lakers had only 13 team assists. KOBE CAN'T BEAT THE SUNS ALONE and he needs to recognize that. In game 2 the key for the Lakers is to get more people involved and catch people like Farmar, Odom, Brown, and Walton so it is a team and not 5 people playing for themselves. The Keys for the Suns are to run and feed the fire of Barbosa, Marion, and Stoudemire.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Something-To-Say @ Apr 23 2007, 05:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Funny that you put so many players under lakers key bench when like all but 1 of those guys is guaranteed to do exactly nothing on any given night.</div>The suns pretty much have a good starting 5 and 2 solid options off the bench.. you must only pay attention to stats if you can't appreciate what guys like Turiaf and Evans do off the bench
Hell, it doesn't matter how many assists the Lakers get, if they aren't minding their game plan then, who cares?It's annoying how Suns fans preach about getting assists because they have the league leader, they act as if it's the "right way" to play. The Lakers "right way" differs just a bit. Kobe isn't surrounded with Super-Athletes he can just Alley-Oops to, they have to slow things down and play their way.
It IS the right way to play. How do you think the Showtime Lakers did so well? They had a great distributor.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Michael Bryant @ Apr 24 2007, 03:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Hell, it doesn't matter how many assists the Lakers get, if they aren't minding their game plan then, who cares?It's annoying how Suns fans preach about getting assists because they have the league leader, they act as if it's the "right way" to play. The Lakers "right way" differs just a bit. Kobe isn't surrounded with Super-Athletes he can just Alley-Oops to, they have to slow things down and play their way.</div>It's not just Nash, but on most plays they pass it around and the whole team gets a good amount of touches. It's called teamwork and that is how you play the right way.
