Bryant Scorches Suns Down the Stretch
LA’s first home game brings the best out of team
ABOVE: Kobe Bryant (8) scores the trey that stopped the Suns’ comeback
11 Nov, Los Angeles – Los Angeles is slowly getting used to playing basketball as a team after they won their first game of the season at home. The first home match of the season in STAPLES Center featured Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom playing like a dominant one-two punch, Kwame Brown playing solid basketball and the Lakers’ bench doing more than warming it up.
Kobe Bryant finished with 35, 5, 7 and 3 steals on a blistering 13 for 18 shooting from the field. Lamar led the Lakers in the first half and ended the game with 24 points, 5 rebounds and 13 assists. Kwame Brown dominated the paint as he put up 17 points, 13 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.
Phil Jackson was pleased with the first win of the season, “We came out and played good team basketball. Defense was only very average but the team is nearly there.” The Lakers employed a 2-2-1 full court press that frustrated the Suns in the second half and contributed to the Lakers being able to rally back into the game.
Shawn Marion led the away side with 22 points and 15 rebounds and Kurt Thomas chipped in 10 and 12. The duo tried to fill in for injured star Amare Stoudamire but the Matrix wasn’t able to stick till the end as he was injured late in the game. James Jones scored 22 but team leader and NBA MVP Steve Nash was limited to 4 of 12 shooting by new Laker Tyronn Lue.
“Tyronn was all over Nash in the game,” Brian Shaw spoke of his former teammate, “I’m glad to see him back. We missed him!” Lue scored 11 points in his Lakers return and gave the Lakers the intensity and energy that they lacked from the bench before. “With Tyronn, Chris (Mihm) and Devean (George), we finally have a second unit,” Assistant Coach Kurt Rambis stated after the game. The trio of players that Rambis mentioned scored 26 points.
The game started with Lamar Odom pushing the ball up court and making smart decisions as he finished with 7 points and 7 assists for the quarter. “Lamar was magic at the start of the game,” Lakers fan Jack Nicholson said, “He reminded me of the young Scottie Pippen. He was great!”
Both teams played out the first period strongly before Phoenix made a push in the second quarter and forced LA to lose its composure and start to turn the ball over. LA fell behind as the Suns went on an 11-0 rip and built up the first lead of the game. The Lakers struggled to control the offensive glass as they gave chance after chance away to the Suns in the paint. “The rebounding was horrendous,” Suns’ Shawn Marion referred to the Lakers’ rebounding, “We (Suns) were going in for contested jumpers and lay ups but the boards were never contested. It was too easy.”
Phil Jackson took his team into the locker room at half time and scolded at them and it seemed to reenergize the Lakers team as Lamar Odom and Kobe Bryant came out to lead the team in the third quarter. The duo scored 10 points apiece in the period.
The two captains were accompanied by Kwame Brown, Aaron McKie and Luke Walton on the court for the entire third period as they forced turnover after turnover and missed shot after missed shot. With the full court press working well, the home side was able to cut the lead and build their own lead going into the final period.
The STAPLES crowd was loud and egged the home team on. Bryant felt the energy and claimed, “I love this home crowd, they really bring out the best in me.” Little did Bryant know that the Lakers did need him to play at his best in the final quarter and little did the crowd know that they would be so loud that Phil Jackson had to make hand signals to communicate with Bryant on the court in the final quarter.
The Lakers put more points on the scoreboard as the fourth quarter started but Phoenix kept the game close and took over the lead. “The aim was to stay as close to LA as possible,” James Jones stated, “It worked because we had a chance to pull off a win after Lamar Odom got injured.” Odom who took a hard hit and exited the game with 7:46 left in the game and a 94-90 score line in favor of the Suns.
Kobe Bryant immediately took to the helm of the team and missed two ill-advised shots. Jackson tried to tell Bryant to slow down but the crowd was too loud and Bryant kept playing faster and faster, helping his teammates score. “I wanted him to slow down ,” Jackson told a reporter, “But if it’s working, I guess I should let him play at his comfort level.”
With the Lakers leading by 2 with just under 6 minutes remaining, the Lakers got lucky as Bryant seemed to have pushed Shawn Marion to the side on a dunk attempt. “I’m positive that Kobe pushed Shawn,” Steve Nash said, “We’re going to pursue this case with the league.”
Bryant went on to score 7 straight points later in the final moments of the game to lead the Lakers to a 110-103 lead. With 1:54 left in the game, Steve Nash scored a baseline trey to life his Suns the closest they would get to LA at 110-106. Bryant then returned the favor on his end of the floor with a long range bomb of his own with 1:30 on the clock. Brown and Lue forced a turnover off Nash and Mihm hit one of his free throws with 1:11 remaining.
Kurt Thomas gave Phoenix a slim hope with a put back bucket with a minute left before Lue ran down the clock to 44 seconds before being fouled and sent to the line. Lue hit two free shots and Mihm hit another one to lead Phoenix to their third straight loss.
Notes
PG Tyronn Lue was acquired from Atlanta in exchange for PF Slava Medvedenko and SF Laron Profit… Both F Shawn Marion and F Lamar Odom were diagnosed with sore fingers and are both sidelined for a week… PF Brian Grant played against his former team last night after being waived during the off-season… SG Kobe Bryant finished with 23 second half points… PG Leandro Barbosa, whose trade fell through recently, scored 10 points in 15 minutes to show what the Lakers couldn’t get from the incomplete trade… Record: 1-2 (1-0) (0-2) …
Box Score
Game Images
Lamar led the team from the beginning of the game
Kwame Brown shows the STAPLES crowd that he can bank it like Timmy Duncan
Steve Nashty makes the behind the back pass on the fast break for an easy bucket
Raja Bell was injured and didn’t return to the action
Tyronn Lue makes his first basket as a Laker again
Shawn Marion made the double pump and dunk over Kwame Brown as Chris Mhim and Kobe watch on
Odom went down next in the fourth quarter
James Jones helped keep Phoenix in the game with this put back dunk
Shawn Marion was unlucky when he got injured too with only 5:28 left
I've been rooting for the guy since I first realized he was in the NBA. Trust me, he has the potential to be a pretty decent player in the league, but I can understand why you don't like him very much. 
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