Kobe Bryant dispelled any rumors of his ailing body by dropping 40 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the field to pace the Los Angeles Lakers to a thorough 128-107 beating of the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
Lakers Blog: Kobe & Co. Eviscerate Suns’ Defense In Game 1
Beware the small sample size. After cruising past their long-time roadblock, the Spurs, pundits rushed to declare that the Suns had gotten religion and committed themselves to the defensive end (after all, how else could they have defied expectations so much?). Forget that this Suns team was actually more unbalanced -- more efficient at offense than any of the 7SOL-era Suns teams and worse defensively. Well, after the Lakers torched the Suns en route to an easy 21-point Game 1 win, SB Nation’s Lakers blog, Silver Screen and Roll, reminds us that until/unless the Suns demonstrate they can slow down Kobe & Co., we shouldn’t be too surprised:
But it wasn’t just Bryant’s virtuoso performance -- that included an array of unguardable, demoralizing jumpers, like this first-quarter buzzer beater -- that should give the Suns reason to worry.
Read Article >Suns Blog: Keys To Western Conference Finals Vs Lakers
While much of the analysis of the Suns-Lakers Western Conference Finals has centered on whether Phoenix can match up with the Lakers’ gargantuan front court, the fans at SB Nation’s Suns blog, Bright Side of the Sun, have a slightly different list of keys to the series.
If the Suns do advance, expect Jason Richardson and Robin Lopez to play prominent roles. From Bright Side of the Sun:
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