[Wizard of Os]

Okay, it's not like i'm fooled by the "blowout" win against the Suns near the end of the regular season, but can i just say that the Lakers look pretty good?

The pieces that need to come together have been coming together pretty darn consistently since March...Odom's getting triple doubles, Kwame's setting personal bests, Luke Walton is blossoming, Kobe is Kobe and Dr. Phil must have the rest of these guys brainwashed into thinking they can make their shots (or at least two for the four Kobe may allow them). And, of course, they're playing D...there are no Jordans, Pippens, Harpers, Grants, but they can hold the line.

And the Lakers get to match up against the Suns, who have little inside game. Hell, they could feed the ball to Kwame, the long-developing overnight star who's suddenly been hitting his shots, all night and get him eighteen points. Call it a hunch, but i bet Kwame can more than hang with the likes of Kurt Thomas, Boris Diaw and...who's that at the end of the bench? Brian Grant? Wasn't he a Laker for about ten minutes?

Kobe for Naismaith knows how many, a nice typical Odom near triple-double, Smush keeping the ball in his hands, and you've got a shot.

And i'm cheering for the Clippers.

Cheers, all.

[desertrat]

I am thinking the same thing, Lakers could pull an upset in this series. Without Stoudamire, the Suns inside game is not in very good shape. Suns slumped down the stretch while the Lakers surged ahead, Lakers enter playoffs with momentum and if they can get a win in Phoenix to start the series, Lakers will be hard to beat.

[ThePundit]

I'll take the Suns team approach to the Lakers 1 on 5 approach.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

You mean the Lakers?....or "Kobe and the LA-Fours?"...it could happen...Though, I am also going for the Clippers

[MJHMarc]

Well, both the Lakers and the Clippers have the same kind of motivation. They both want to show they fans that they are/still good. Also, they plan to win the respect of Los Angeles.

By the way, where has Smush Parker been all these years? He went through Cleveland, Detroit, and Phoenix to end up in no other place but Los Angeles.

Check out his NBA profile at http://www.nba.com/playerfile/smush_parker/

Under his statistics it tells you who signed him as a free-agent. It is very sad when NBA.Com mispells one of the NBA teams.

[Wizard of Os]

Cheers, all.

Well, once again, it shows what i know. The Lakers didn't play D and, despite the fact that most of the supporting cast performed excellently, Kobe was a non-factor, and Phil takes his first-ever game one loss. Meanwhile, Nash was not contained in the least and who's the high scorer for the Suns? The dude i dissed, Kurt Thomas.

Argh. Just look at the stats and cover up Kobe's line. Luke Walton: 9-for-19 for 19 points. Smush: fifteen points, only one turnover. Odom: all-star caliber stats at twenty-one points and fourteen boards. And Kobe shoots just enough to miss fourteen times, including four in the clutch, and essentially become the difference for a negative result.

Grrr...playing an excellent game with perfect strategy and the Lakes still lose. Apparently, these boys have to be perfect to win at all.

[ThePundit]

Kobe shot 1 for 6 from 3 pt range, and 7 for 21 from the field for a whopping shooting % of 29.6%. This is the problem with relying on 1 guy too much and not playing team ball. If Kobe has a bad shooting game, they can't win. And this isn't the regular season where the Raptors just watch in awe as Kobe does whatever he wants. The defenses are going to get much tougher.

[cjg11582]

Yes, that unpenetrable Phoenix defense. That was why The Lakers lost. Kobe's strategy was to get his team involved in the game and decidedly take over. Conicidentally, the reason his team lost probably had to do with Kobe taking too few shots in the 1st half (seven) and was subsequently rusty for the 2nd. So can we put too bed the notion that Kobe is a "ball hog" who is only concerned with individual achievements?
If anything Lamar Odom's/Luke Waltons atrocious defense (Tim Thomas 8/10 shooting with 22 points and 15 rebounds, he just isn't this good).
Why do people seem to insist that this Lakers team would win the NBA title if Kobe was absent from the roster?

[Lefty Noob]

Why do people seem to insist that this Lakers team would win the NBA title if Kobe was absent from the roster?

I'm speechless. Almost.

Jeez, I'm not a fan of Kobe, but... come on! Who in the world said that? This team wouldn't be in the playoffs without him. Seriously, if someone tells you this with a straight face, do us all a favor and punch them in the mouth. Really, really hard.

Okay, don't do that. Violence is never the answer... and I don't want to get in trouble for inciting it!

[cjg11582]

No one has actually uttered those words to me, but the overriding tone seems to be that Kobe makes his team worse. I can only assume that these people are inferring the Lakers would be better without him.

[desertrat]

Lakers came out strong in game 2 and answered everything the Suns threw at them. Now we return to LA with the Lakers now holding home court advantage and some momentum to go with it. Suns, with the exception of Nash, looked like a very average team and were pretty lucky to win game 1 if you really think about it. This looks like a possible 7 game first round series.

[cjg11582]

Outside of the Kings-Spurs game two, this was the best playoff game we have seen so far. Great offense, even better defense (from The Lakers) and after recent reports from Phoenix newspaper that Nash is going to win The MVP (reports that I am highly skeptical of) it was interesting to see Kobe and Nash screaming at each other in the first quarter, it kind of established some antimosity between the two teams, something the NBA playoffs have been lacking ever since the Kings-Lakers rivalry fizzled out, thus making the playoffs really disinteresting for all casual fans and even some die-hards.
I think Kobe has an absolute vendetta against Nash now, and it is going to make The Lakers a much more difficult out.

[legend]

Anyone see Kobe's dunk over Nash on Wednesday? Good stuff, pun intended. Neither of these teams is going anywhere folks. But that was one of the greatest facials I have seen in years.

[cjg11582]

Well, their not making the finals but the conference finals is a definite possibility. They can both contend with The Nuggets and The Clippers. That would be a good year for either team.
That dunk did wreak of symbolism, it really punctuated that argument they had in the first quarter.

[desertrat]

I would love to see Lakers-Clippers in the next round. Everyone in LA has been waiting many years for that to happen, too bad I don't live there anymore. I was disappointed to see Steve Nash take a cheap shot to the head of Vujacic, and loved the way Kobe immediately stepped up and let Nash know that will not be tolerated. Tonight's game should be a good one.