It is never enjoyable watching your team get pounded, and when it is at the hands of the Lakers, it seems just that little bit worse. The Suns were crushed by a 21 point third quarter from Kobe Bryant and run out of the Staples’ Center 128-107 in game one of the Western Conference Finals. Some notes:
- Grant Hill. Grant was unlucky to get into foul trouble in the third quarter and his benching opened the way for Bryant. Hill will be a factor in this series and his absence in game one goes some way to explaining the Suns’ second half collapse.
- Goran Dragic. The kid is ready to play. In the shadow of his game three outburst against the Spurs, Dragic returned to doing all the little things well against the Lakers. His consistency off the bench will keep Nash rested during the series.
- Channing Frye. Frye took too many early shots in his first possessions. I’ve been lucky to see plenty of Suns’ games this season on One HD, and this is not Channing’s game. He needs to be patient within the Suns’ offense.
- Kobe Bryant. Normally I’d say, “You can’t expect 40 points from player X every game.” With Kobe, we can. With all the hype around Lebron James, Kobe is still hungry in the playoffs and needs this championship to further cement his legacy.
- The Lakers’ bench. Don’t read too much into the numbers… the bench came up big in garbage time. The Lakers’ second unit needs to play without a lead before the Suns’ concede an advantage there.
- Alvin Gentry. What is with the glasses and the buttoned-up suit? Seriously, a classy coach who has the regular season trust of his players to dig into before game two.
Catch game two LIVE on One HD and follow all the action with the NBA Scoreboard addon for Firefox.
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