Suns/Lakers : Game 4
The Lakers should find themselves some fishing gear…
Thirty minutes before tipoff, Wifey walks into the room and asks me if I would like to tag along while she goes and visits a friend of hers in Montreal. I then look at her as if she has three heads. This, rest assured, did not end well. Unfortunately, this was just the beginning of a nightmarish Sunday afternoon.
After game 3, Steve Nash was upset with himself and his teammates for not having reacted well to the Lakers’s pressure defense. He promised that the Suns would find a way to exploit it, and boy, did they ever.
Instead of coming to a full stop whenever the Lakers would send two guys at him, Steve kept moving, and oftentimes he beat the double team and got to the hole for some tough finishes. He even found time in his busy schedule to kick Kobe Bryant on his way to the hoop. So crafty. And when the double forced him to give up the ball, he would inevitably find a teammate wide open under the hoop (usually Amare Stoudemire, who seems to enjoy inflicting all sorts of pain on the rim).
The Lakers were able to keep things relatively close early on due to hot shooting from Kobe and the Bryantaires. Everyone from Luke Walton, Kwame Brown, Maurice Evans, and Lamar Odom contributed in the first half, and it looked as though the game would be close down the stretch. In the second half, however, the wheels came flying off the wagon.
Kobe came out and had himself a solid first half but he couldn’t get himself going at money time. Phoenix threw everything but the kitchen sink at him; two to three defenders were consistently in his grill and forced him to give up the rock time and again, and the Lakers never threatened enough for him to put on the Superman cape in the fourth quarter.
What else can you say about Steve Nash? The only thing more impressive than his 23 assists is the simple fact that he could have easily gotten 30 of them had his teammates knocked down some of the jumpers they usually wet.
Time for truth: The Lakers, if they hoped to extend this series any further, had to win game 4. They were at home, they had solved Phoenix in game 3 (by pounding them inside and forcing Nash to give up the ball early in the shot clock), and they had to play desperately. They could not. They were overmatched on both ends of the floor, and the Suns’ superiority shone through.
Unless Nash, Amare and Marion get lost on their way to the gym, there is absolutely no way L.A. can go into Phoenix on Wednesday night and win game 5. This series, I’m afraid to say, is over.
Go Warriors!!!
18 Responses to “Suns/Lakers : Game 4”
Apr.30 at 2:40 pm
dez says:
Feel bad for Kobe. Going for 31+, and dishing out 9 assists. You can’t be a reasonable person and ask more from him.
The Suns are better at 4 out of 5 positions. Can’t beat that
Apr.30 at 2:41 pm
Darksaber says:
Nashty. Nuff said
Apr.30 at 2:52 pm
jbn74sb says:
Like you, Mutoni, I am throwing all my support to the Warriors and Baron Davis.
Apr.30 at 2:53 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Steve Nash should accept the MVP award on Dirk’s behalf and then just keep it.
Apr.30 at 2:54 pm
Max Airington says:
Oh ye of little faith…
Apr.30 at 3:04 pm
Sparker says:
does luke walton always look like he’s wearing mascara, or is this a new look for him?
Apr.30 at 3:16 pm
jbn74sb says:
That’s Dirk’s mascara, not Luke’s.
Apr.30 at 3:43 pm
FLynn says:
so tight!
Awesome to see nash and the suns tear the lakers apart.
Kobe is a one of a kind player, but nash is by far the biggest contributer in the league…
17 and 23? wow! and with a full healthy supporting cast… they’re going to win it all this year.
Apr.30 at 3:44 pm
MagicChicken says:
I would consider myself a die-hard Laker fan, but I think we’ve had a fantastic season given what we had to work with, and I sadly think this end is inevitable as well. The truth is, I really don’t think this season or series has been about winning anything … I think the only goal this season for the Lakers has been to increase the trade value of the more expendable players. At varous points this season, Bynum, Turiaf, Brown, Parker, Farmar, and Walton have looked like seriously good players … and I think one or some of them will find a new home this summer when L.A. tries to package a deal to get another star or All-star on this team … until that happens, I’m desperately afraid of more first-round playoff woes
Apr.30 at 3:53 pm
namik says:
I’m with Max. Kobe needs to loose his mind like Jordan against the Celts. Screw team support, its time to dominate every moment like he promised.
Apr.30 at 5:03 pm
Reggie Evans says:
Stoudemire had Ginobili flashbacks when he saw Nash kick Kobe in the ‘nads.
Apr.30 at 5:37 pm
Leon Bonito says:
Flight 31 on schedule to pick up THE trophy via detroit round trip. No delays expected!
Apr.30 at 5:59 pm
mutoni says:
namik, mj and his bulls were swept by the celtics when he lost his mind in ‘86. i fail to see how kobe taking a similar course of action would alter the fate of his team. please enlighten me.
Apr.30 at 6:02 pm
Hersey says:
Guess what, Chicago lost the game where Jordan scored 63. Go fishing and try to figure out a way to get Garnett or JO. Go Suns!
Apr.30 at 7:48 pm
namik says:
Mutoni, thank you for asking. The simple answer-these arent the Celtics of 86. Nash might be great but he isnt Larry Bird. You go hard at him and it has been proven you can rattle him. Also because after Amare and MAYBE Marion, this team is no where near as deep as those Celtics nor as sesaoned. And because we have tried the whole “lets go to Kwame” thing and besides one game it has failed miserably. The Suns are only scared of one man on this team and if Kobe starts connecting, they start panicking and helping off Kobe which opens up easy shots for Lamar and Kwame. laslty because most fans like you have given up and I’d rather he go out like Jordan because that was the biggest complaint against him last year. Even if we dont win, I dont want people blaming Kobe again. Deffering on the last game of a series for players like Kobe is stupid. Especially looking at this team.
Apr.30 at 9:16 pm
Michael says:
Thething about phoenix is that the more Kobe scores the better off Phoenix is. Cause no matter what you do they know they can outscore you. If the Lakers were playing the Spurs then Kobe could try to win it by himself because the Spurs slow the pace down, and no matter how good a defender Bruce Bowen is he can’t stop Kobe. Plus Kobe’s owned the SPurs since 2000.
Apr.30 at 10:31 pm
Dean says:
YAAAAY Phoenix!!! all the way this year.
May.1 at 4:16 pm
Pat B says:
Kobe LOL