Lakers 122, Suns 115
December 25th, 2007, 5:00 pm · 6 Comments · posted by KEVIN DING, OCREGISTER.COM
LOS ANGELES – After three consecutive Christmas Day losses to the Miami Heat, the Lakers succeeded against a team that lurks as much more of a real rival: the Phoenix Suns. With impressive offensive firepower to trade shots with the Suns but get more scores, the Lakers controlled the game Tuesday and pulled away in the fourth quarter.
Kobe Bryant (38 points, seven assists) dictated most of the Lakers’ game in the fourth, with key help from Andrew Bynum (28 points), who topped the career high in points he just set with 24 points Friday night in Philadelphia.
It was the Lakers’ second victory in two tries this season against the Suns, who knocked them out of the playoffs the past two seasons. Trevor Ariza started for the sore-ankled Luke Walton and was big with 14 points and seven rebounds.
QUOTABLE
ABC analyst Bill Walton said the Lakers are the second-best team in the Western Conference, and Lakers coach Phil Jackson was asked if Walton has any credibility: “None,” Jackson said.
DID YOU SEE THAT?
Ariza threw down a spectacular slam on former Orlando teammate Grant Hill with 9:51 left in the second quarter for a 32-30 Lakers lead.
FISH NETS
Derek Fisher didn’t disappoint on the court on the day ABC ran a nice feature about his daughter Tatum’s fight against cancer: Fisher matched up well with Steve Nash (24 points) in a 19-point game.
NEXT
Utah at Lakers, 7:30 p.m. Friday, FSN, KLAC/570
December 26th, 2007 at 1:24 am
The Laker team indeed play cohesively against the Suns, but they must learn to make winning a habit. Keep it up Drew bcoz one day you’ll find yourself among the best centers on the league and you’ll be rewarded greatly by the laker franchise.
December 26th, 2007 at 6:49 am
Kevin what do you think about this? I think our Laker team is a legitimate contender…THIS YEAR!!!! The only players that I feel really dont get it done for us is Vlad Rod and Kwame, is there anyway we deal them off to get the likes of a Jermaine Oneal? Or Marcus Camby, or better yet Artest? And has Chris Mihm just nestled himself deep into Phils dog house? I have noticed that he hasnt got the nod as of late, especially with Kwame out….Is he on the way out as well? What do you know? Thanks man…always enjoy reading your column, and especially when it has something to do with PHX losing!
December 26th, 2007 at 7:53 am
After watching Shaq in the Heat’s loss to Clevland and then watching Bynum in the Laker’s win over the Phoenix Suns, there is no doubt who is currently the better center. I love you Shaq and always will but watching you struggle through a game you used to dominate is painful. Kobe… No team other than Boston offers you a better chance to win a championship in the next two years than your own Lakers. Even Boston would have to give up too much to get you to win a championship. Andrew Bynum will be the next dominant big man in the game and it will happen sooner rather than later. Hitch your wagon to Andrew and forget about a trade
December 26th, 2007 at 10:09 am
Fun game. Awesome play from everyone.
I know adrenalin had a lot to do with Ariza’s performance but never the less, I like him as a starter. More energy. More likely to force the opposition into doing something they don’t want to do, like make good passes, work hard on the boards and defend a guy that can beat them to the basket and dunk on them. Love slashers like TA.
The only thing that bothered me was LO’s failure to pay attention on defense. I counted 6 easy baskets he gave up and at least one foul that Kobe had to surrender because LO either lost track of his man or failed to rotate - usually the former. While LO otherwise had a nice game and I hope he will continue to be aggressive offensively, the team really needs a 4 who will commit to playing defense. Is Ronny that guy? Maybe but I’m thinking that he is Bynum’s best backup. Here is hoping for JO, a guy who has never been afraid to block a shot here and there. (JO blocks shots at 4x the rate of LO.)
Keep LO for sure but a combination of JO and LO at 4 would be killer -(LO also logging time at 3 and JO backing up Bynum at 5 from time to time.
When IND was losing and crying that they may be better off without JO, I thought there may be a chance to trade Brown’s expiring contract, picks and another 5m in contracts. Besides, Pacers need a center and my guess is that in the Leastern conference Brown might dominate. But IND is winning a bit now. It was a long shot before but chances of a trade are slim to none now unless JO says that he is going to walk this summer unless he is traded. IND has been known to take weak deals. Is there a chance they will do it again? Radmanovic, Brown and Crittenton for O’Neal works. Is this why, even with Brown ready to return to the active roster, the Lakers went ahead and recalled Karl? If the Lakers where to make a three for one they would be down to 12 active players so they would need/want to add another as well as Coby. Radmanovic is for all intent required to make the deal work. The alternative would mean the Lakers would have to send even more players such as a combination of Walton – BYC - Vujacic, Mihm – who would have to consent to the trade, Crittenton and Karl. There is no way that is going to happen. Just think of all the players that IND would have to wave not to mention the impact to the Lakers depth.
As much as I love J Kidd, I don’t think I would mess with the Fisher/Farmar combination right now. Besides, the triangle needs a 1 that can shoot and as great as Kidd is, he can’t shoot and JO is five years younger. Still, Jackson did say yesterday that you have to take a Kidd seriously. Do you think he is zigging here?
Just my 2 cents.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Hey Kevin,
keep up the good work. How long do you think it will be before Bynum will be able to score on his own instead of having to get his points off of good passing and offensive rebounds? He’s going to be great when he develops the ability to create his own shot.
December 27th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
This is my take on the Kobe triade of last summer. First of all Kobe is not a stupid guy. He knows full-well that any team that trades for him will have to pretty-much gut their entire roster of anyone of value. Thus after doing this, that team would then be in the same position that Kobe found himself last season. Kobe is not a dumbell. He already knew this before he made any comment. So with that said, what could possibly be his motivation for his very public display of discontent with the Lakers and his angst with Bynum?
Its very simple, with Kobe knowing this his purpose was to light and ignite a fire under his lack-luster teammates.
And guess what folks, it worked to perfection. Just look at Bynum, a regular monster down low now. Look at the rest of the squad. They’re 3rd or 4th in bench scoring, and the team as a whole is 1st in rebounding and they have to be among the league leaders in assists. In every category the Lakers have greatly improved and the stats bear-out. So fellas, stop all the speculation, Kobe isn’t going nowhere.