
In basketball, they say you live by the three and you die by the three. Well, tonight the Suns lived like rich kings in massive castles constructed on the strength of their hot shooting. They literally could not miss from distance for much of the night and it all led to the Lakers second consecutive loss as they fell to the Suns 121-116.
I’m going to be completely honest here, this is a difficult game for me to really get a grasp on. I mean, sometimes there are games that are microcosms of a season and sometimes games are an anomaly. Tonight’s game against the Suns was a bit of both. Because while the Suns were ridiculously hot, sinking 22 of their 40 three point attempts (setting a new franchise record and falling one short of tying an NBA record) – a stat that is a bit fluky in itself, they did so against a Lakers defense that was mostly lax, but other times quite good.
So, there’s no real way for me to break this game down other than to say that Phoenix was quite good at hitting their three point shots. Most times that was because the Lakers defense was struggling to find shooters in transition or because the Suns penetration broke down the D which forced the Lakers to help and opened up passing lanes to other shooters. Other times the Lakers were just a step slow and paid for it with a made 3 ball from one of the six Suns players that buried such a shot. But there were also times where the Lakers did everything right and still paid with a made three pointer by their opponent. At one point in the 2nd quarter I went from frustrated Laker fan to completely in awe of the display that the Suns were putting on, their shooting was so good. It literally looked like a lay up line from 23 feet away. There are many nights where a lesser team would have cooled off, but tonight the Suns were not a lesser team.
But, despite all of the made bombs, this game was still close. And you only need to look at the boxscore to figure out why. The Lakers out rebounded the Suns by 17 (49-32) and outscored them by 40 in the paint (68-28). Kobe, Gasol, and Odom combined for 75 points, 37 rebounds, and 20 assists. The Lakers pretty much had their way with the Suns in the paint (who were without Robin Lopez for most of the night due to a sprained knee he suffered in the first half) and seemed to be able to get a good look inside whenever they wanted. It only seemed like a matter of time before the Lakers clamped down on defense (or the Suns just started missing) and then proceed to get the baskets they needed to pull away.
Only, it never really happened. And this is why this game is both an anomaly and starting to feel like a trend on the season. You see, the Lakers just haven’t brought the same caliber of defense in the early part of this campaign. We can blame it on a variety of factors – integrating new players, missing Andrew Bynum, playing very good offenses – but the fact remains that the Lakers have been hovering around 10th in the NBA in defensive efficiency and unless they start to play smarter and harder on that side of the ball that number isn’t going to change. I’m nowhere close to saying that the Lakers won’t improve as the above mentioned factors change for the better, but it’s also going to take the Lakers shifting their focus more to performing better on that side of the ball. Defense is a mentality and the Lakers have had a wandering focus this season.
All that said, I’m not anywhere near panicking. Despite the Lakers not playing very good defense (and even when they did, the Suns beating it anyway) this game was still ripe for the taking. In the closing minute the Lakers cut the lead to 2 after getting a stop and running a very good offensive possession that resulted in Odom getting a lay up. However on that play, Odom’s emotions got the best of him and he drew a technical foul for complaining to the ref for not calling a foul on the finish. After the subsequent FT by Nash pushed the lead to 3, Hedo Turkoglu hit a (what else) deep three to push the lead back to 6 and that was essentially the ball game. Kobe did try to hit a couple of three point shots that could be considered questionable, but I didn’t have too much a problem with those shots considering the time on the clock, the FT shooters that the Suns possess, and the fact that it was a two possession game. The circumstances were not with the Lakers and if it wasn’t quite desperation time, it would be very quickly. In those instances the ball belongs in Kobe’s hands and I’m usually trusting of what happens next.
In the end though, the Lakers fell short and we sit here wondering how two winnable games became losses. There are definitely areas that need improvement and places to assign blame but I think going too far in that direction would be a mistake. Yes the team needs to play better defense (which is probably an understatement), but getting healthy and finally having the full roster at the coach’s disposal is a bigger key for me. This is even more the case with word just coming out tonight that Odom is undergoing an MRI on his foot for what Phil Jackson is calling a “bone bruise”. This team shouldn’t be judged too harshly yet, not after 10 games and a couple of close, though tough to swallow losses. I’m still preaching patience (and will be for a while) as the marathon of this season is just getting started.
stowage says
Bench Kobe!He is the lone reason this game is lost,bring Shannon.
harold says
home court does not matter one bit if you don’t own up to it. you gotta defend your turf to give hca any value.
drrayeye says
Darius,
We need to appreciate the exceptional 3 point shooting of Phoenix, but we can’t stop there.
As Laker fans, watching more carefully than most, we need to question whether Kobe is really healthy. The only blemish on his numbers was his steals to turnover ratio (1 to 8). Yet, despite the deceptively good statistics, he was the one that was slow on defensive rotations, and, subjectively, he was surprisingly subdued.
Jeremy says
very troublesome news about Odom. Let’s hope its not much of anything
Jeremy says
Kobe is 2nd amongst all SG in PER, which is remarkable considering he’s had a couple of bad games and we are only 10 games in. He is fine. I’m also not concerned about his defense. The entire team has been out of sorts and at this point we should be relying on strong team defense not any 1 standout.
My prediction for Kobe is that by the end of the season people will be marveling over how he was able to transition to be a facilitator/play maker from primary scorer and calling this one of this finest seasons yet. Yes he will have is get out of my way while I miss a bunch of shots games but for the most part this season he has done an outstanding job of penetrating the perimeter and then dumping off to one of the bigs. It has seemed like a lot of the turnovers have come as a result of poor timing of those passes. Which should improve as the season progresses.
exhelodrvr says
drrayeye,
“Yet, despite the deceptively good statistics, he was the one that was slow on defensive rotations”
I don’t know if that is an issue with his knee – slow rotations are a fairly frequent occurrence with him.
T. Rogers says
The Lakers are two time defending champs. They will get most teams best shot. Last night was definitely the Suns’ best shot. That is not to take anything away from them. Still if they match that performance again someone needs to check David Stern’s office for voodoo dolls.
It got me thinking about some of the things we have seen so far this season. The Suns nearly tie a record last night. Then there was the Pacers 20/21 quarter the other night. And who would have ever thought they would see Paul Milsap hit three three pointers in one game on his way to a 46 point outing? Just these first three weeks have made this one of the most interesting seasons in a long time.
And I know I’m being captain obvious here, but the Lakers really need Andrew Bynum back.
Phillip Barnett says
Morning Links are up:
http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2010/11/15/around-the-world-wide-web-lakerssuns-reactions/
What says
The 72-10 Bulls had 3 or so 1 point losses. Not saying we’re at their level, but they could have very easily been 75-7.
Zephid says
Kobe has never rotated well on defense, which is why against fast, perimeter teams like the Suns, which always field 4 guys on the floor who can shoot from three, are the teams that can exploit that weakness. Kobe is at his best when he can back off his man and play free safety (like against Rondo and Westbrook), but it kills us against teams with guys like Jason Richardson.
I’m more concerned about our horrendous 4th quarter execution, in which I don’t think I saw us run the triangle even once.
Arhithia says
The 72-10 Bulls also didn’t lose back to back games that season. (if I’m not mistaken, the Lakers team that season also didn’t lose back to back games). That feat, I believe is a testament to the humble, coachable nature of the team. I’m not saying that the current Lakers aren’t this team, but there is an abnormally high level of arrogance that shows in post game quotes that’s concerning me.