Unbelievable. No disrespect to the Lakers, but that was literally unbelievable. I was really excited for this game, understandably, and was running through possible scenarios in my head before the game. The way I saw it, there were three things that could happen tonight: The Lakers could play perfectly and eek out a close victory, they could lose a close game, or they could get blown out. For just a moment I considered a possible fourth scenario: what if the Lakers blew out the Suns? I considered for a moment- impossible, I decided. I have never been happier to be wrong.
Now I know this was only the second game of the season, and I don’t want to blow things out of proportion, but what the hell- that was the best I have seen the Lakers play in the “post-Shaq” era.
Complete team basketball. That’s what got the job done tonight. All twelve players contributed and played significant minutes. Take a look at the box score. Besides Brian Cook, every player had at least 6 points. The incredible amount of garbage time evened out some of the stats and the final score, but the Lakers dominated in nearly every facet of the game.
The Laker defense didn’t look great, but holding Phoenix below 100 points is always an accomplishment.
Player(s) of the game: Andrew Bynum and Vlade Radmonovich share tonight’s honors. The fact that both players came off the bench says a great deal about the Lakers’ newfound depth. Bynum had 14 points on 7 for 10 shooting, to go with 13 rebounds. Radmonovich shot the lights out, leading the Lakers with 19 points on 6 for 8 from the field- including 4 for 4 from downtown.
Final thoughts:
If the Lakers keep playing like this, Kobe would be crazy to want to leave. It was good to seem him looking to pass first in the second half once he saw that his teammates were heating up. It was also refreshing to see him laughing with Luke Walton and Brian Cook on the bench during the fourth quarter.
I still cannot believe the Lakers were able to go into Phoenix and absolutely dismantle the second best team in the NBA, on their home floor, in their home opener. Who are these guys in purple and gold and what have they done with my Lakers?
Did this rivalry just heat up even more or what? As I alluded to in a previous post, this is one of the few true rivalries in today’s NBA. These teams truly disliked each other before this season. Facing each other in two consecutive playoffs will do that to you. But the intensity just went up after tonight. Phoenix was embarrassed on national TV and in front of their home fans. According to the AP game report, the phoenix fans weren’t the only ones upset: “in a late-game exchange with the Lakers' coaching staff during a timeout, Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni shouted 'We're good. We've got three more games'". I cannot wait for the next game in this rivalry, which by the way, is on Christmas day. I honestly couldn’t ask for a better Christmas gift.
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