After letting the Suns drop 40 on them in the first quarter, the Lakers remembered how they won those 3 games in the playoffs last year: defense, and inside scoring.
The Suns started the game by making their first nine shots, and looked like they weren't going to miss the rest of the night. The Lakers tried to keep pace with the run-and-gun Suns, and found themselves down by as much as 19. But the Lake Show fought back and eventually had a 16 point lead by the third quarter.
Lamar Odom played like a franchise player, with a career-high tying 34 points while shooting 50 percent. He also added 13 boards, 6 dimes, and 3 rips.
Andrew Bynum was a freaking beast in his first NBA start with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. He scored some big buckets and showed some tenacity out there. Of course, it's a little skewed because it's against a small, non-defending Suns team, but I see bright things for Baby Bynum. There has been a lot of chatter about the Lakers acquiring KG, with Odom and Bynum being the most likely trade bait. I know it sounds crazy, but I wouldn't trade Bynum for anyone except Lebron, Wade, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul and Yao. This kid's future is so bright he needs stunna glasses.
Mo' Evans came in off the bench and sank that weird J of his 8 out of 13 times for 17 points. He also showed defensive hustle, and a nice touch around the basket.
Jordan Farmar came in and gave the Lakers one super solid 6 minutes stretch of scoring, defense, rebounding and passing. He still looks like an elf.
Positives for the Lakers: Bynum looks like he'll become a dominant low-post scorer eventually. That time he has with Kareem seems to be paying off.
Lamar Odom showed why he was a number 4 picks oh so many years ago.
The team didn't quit. The game looked like the Suns were going to win by 42, but the Lakers hearted this one out.
Negatives for the Lakers: How the hell are you going to give up a 40-point first quarter? I know the Suns can put up points like mad, but the Lakers played horrendous D in the opening 8 minutes.
The squad didn't run the triangle well, or at all. Odom did a lot of one-on-ones, and so did everyone else. Can't complain bout a win though.
Positives for the Suns:
Leandro Barbosa, the Brazilian Blurrrrrrrrrrr, looks like he'll have a great year. He dropped 30 points by hitting 3's and getting to the cup.
Amare Stoudemire: He only played for 12 minutes and scored 6 points, but his leaping and timing looked good. He almost had a monstrous block, and I look forward to STAT bouncing back.
Negatives for Suns:
You live by small ball, you die by it. This run and gun/ no defense system that they run is very hot and cold. I'm a firm believer in hanging your hat on your defense because your offense can always go cold, but defense is effort. The Suns looked like world-beater in that first quarter, and then looked like the were Lottery-dwellers for stretches.
The Suns started the game by making their first nine shots, and looked like they weren't going to miss the rest of the night. The Lakers tried to keep pace with the run-and-gun Suns, and found themselves down by as much as 19. But the Lake Show fought back and eventually had a 16 point lead by the third quarter.
Lamar Odom played like a franchise player, with a career-high tying 34 points while shooting 50 percent. He also added 13 boards, 6 dimes, and 3 rips.
Andrew Bynum was a freaking beast in his first NBA start with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. He scored some big buckets and showed some tenacity out there. Of course, it's a little skewed because it's against a small, non-defending Suns team, but I see bright things for Baby Bynum. There has been a lot of chatter about the Lakers acquiring KG, with Odom and Bynum being the most likely trade bait. I know it sounds crazy, but I wouldn't trade Bynum for anyone except Lebron, Wade, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul and Yao. This kid's future is so bright he needs stunna glasses.
Mo' Evans came in off the bench and sank that weird J of his 8 out of 13 times for 17 points. He also showed defensive hustle, and a nice touch around the basket.
Jordan Farmar came in and gave the Lakers one super solid 6 minutes stretch of scoring, defense, rebounding and passing. He still looks like an elf.
Positives for the Lakers: Bynum looks like he'll become a dominant low-post scorer eventually. That time he has with Kareem seems to be paying off.
Lamar Odom showed why he was a number 4 picks oh so many years ago.
The team didn't quit. The game looked like the Suns were going to win by 42, but the Lakers hearted this one out.
Negatives for the Lakers: How the hell are you going to give up a 40-point first quarter? I know the Suns can put up points like mad, but the Lakers played horrendous D in the opening 8 minutes.
The squad didn't run the triangle well, or at all. Odom did a lot of one-on-ones, and so did everyone else. Can't complain bout a win though.
Positives for the Suns:
Leandro Barbosa, the Brazilian Blurrrrrrrrrrr, looks like he'll have a great year. He dropped 30 points by hitting 3's and getting to the cup.
Amare Stoudemire: He only played for 12 minutes and scored 6 points, but his leaping and timing looked good. He almost had a monstrous block, and I look forward to STAT bouncing back.
Negatives for Suns:
You live by small ball, you die by it. This run and gun/ no defense system that they run is very hot and cold. I'm a firm believer in hanging your hat on your defense because your offense can always go cold, but defense is effort. The Suns looked like world-beater in that first quarter, and then looked like the were Lottery-dwellers for stretches.
