The Suns flat-out outplayed the Lakers in the last five minutes. Down double digits in the second half, they fought back valiantly and tied it on a Jason Richardson three with three seconds left in the game. Ron Artest’s putback of a Kobe Bryant miss was lucky after Artest had blown it the possession before when he shot before the shot clock had expired and the Lakers leading by three very late.
Phoenix is the better team in my opinion. Steve Nash played like the courageous warrior that he is going for 29 and 11 assists. Kobe was good with 30, 11 and nine assists and Pau Gasol was the main reason the Lakers won. He had 21 and nine boards.
Jason Richardson, bless his heart, made such a big three to tie it, but didn’t go after the ball hard enough when Kobe missed his shot and Artest got it and put it in. Another factor was the Suns’ free throw shooting. They were 20-for-29, 69.9 %, not their best for sure. Lakers were 20-for-23, 87%. Also, the Lakers got 19 offensive boards to the Suns’ 12.
Tough for the Suns, but they know they can beat these guys in LA, so if they can hold their home court (Saturday Night, 7:30 on TNT), they’ll have a shot on Monday. Still think the Suns can get this done. They’re the better team. Just have to put this one behind them and get ready for Sat.
(Jason Richardson photo above.)