On Sunday the Los Angles Lakers faced the NBA's best offense and held it to less than a point per possession. That counts as a good day at the office. The Phoenix Suns played on Saturday night, which surely contributed to their wan effort, but the Lakers defended with purpose and vigor. They forced turnovers, kept Phoenix off the free-throw line and, most important, made the Suns score two points at a time. An opponent that drains 10 threes on an average night attempted only 13, and made only four.
On offense the Lakemen inflicted damage inside and out. Seemingly resolved to avoid a repeat of the teams' first game in November, when Andrew Bynum roared for 26 easy points, Phoenix doubled the post hard and dared the Lakers to make threes. The strategy worked for a bit, as the Lakers made only two of their first eight three-point attempts, but eventually the open looks started falling, and that was pretty much that. For the game L.A. hit 10 of 21 money balls. Kobe Bryant had no trouble getting what he wanted: his 26 points entailed only 19 shots and a single turnover.
So bravo, fellas! The final score was 108 to 88. The Lakers are 16-3 and have won nine in a row.
Next victim, please.
|
|
Poss. |
TO% |
FTA/ |
FT% |
EFG% |
TS% |
Off Reb% |
Def Reb% |
PPP |
|
L.A. |
89 |
13 |
0.32 |
85 |
53 |
58 |
33 |
70 |
1.21 |
|
PHX |
90 |
17 |
0.13 |
91 |
47 |
50 |
30 |
67 |
0.98 |