| Suns Win Game 1 By Slim Margin Authored by J.T. Magee - April 23, 2006 - 8:01 pm
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Thomas led the Suns with 22 points and grabbed a career and game-high 15 rebounds against the Lakers, helping the Suns beat them 107-102. Phoenix overcame poor offensive second and third quarters to beat the Lakers, scoring 32 points in the fourth. Steve Nash added 20 points and 10 assists, with nine of those points coming in the fourth quarter. Shawn Marion scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa each chipped in 15 points.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists but shot 7-21 from the floor and 1-6 from 3-point land. Lamar Odom scored 21 points and grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds. Luke Walton emerged as a problem for Phoenix by scoring 19 points and grabbing six rebounds. "Smush" Parker added 15 points and Kwame Brown scored 14.
Phoenix looked great in the first quarter. They were able to pass the ball around and get into open spaces. They knocked down their shots and stretched out the defense, creating many problems for the Lakers. Things were lookign grim for L.A., but they were able to hang in and play tough defense in the second and third quarters. They stayed aggressive on the glass and it paid dividends. Phoenix went 0-6 from 3 in those two quarters and could not get much offense going. Lucky for them, it takes just one shot to get their offense going. And Tim Thomas stepped up in the one area that the Suns need desperately: rebounding.
Many people feel Thomas was a bad signing because he was an offensive minded player coming in. That may be the case now, but looking at how he was cleaning the glass, it was clear he became the Suns go-to rebounder in this series. Marion needs all the help he can get on the glass. At first, the way James Jones was grabbing rebounds to close out the season, I thought he was going to get extended minutes because he was rebounding. But Thomas proved that the bigger bodies grab the boards and he did just that. It helped that he grabbed 15 boards, but the boards allowed will be a huge indication in how this series will play out.
L.A. has a lot of confidence after this game. They had their way on the glass, even in the fourth quarter. The Suns grabbed the baords when it counted, but Phoenix cannot afford to be out-rebounded by 10 on the offensive glass and 11 overall in the playoffs. Walton should not be able to get six rebounds and score 19 points. He has been playing great before the playoffs began, but the Suns cannot afford to let him score 19 points.
Phoenix did everything they could against Bryant and it help that he shot 33%. If they can keep this type of defense up on him, they have a great chance in this series. The refs picked a great time to not give Bryant the star treatment when he was hit on the hand for a lay-up in the closing minutes of the game. Bryant close the wrong time to be unselfish, passing up a 3 for Parker, who missed his 3 point attempt. If Bryant tries to do it all in Game 2, it will only work to Phoenix's advantage. But the Suns must also stop the role players like Walton from becoming factors like they were in Game 1.
Phoenix will win this series in 5 games, but it looked too close for comfort for a #2 seed. They will make the necessary adjustments to come out strong in Game 2, but they simply cannot allow the Lakers to get that many rebounds. If this continues, their next series will be just as short but not in their favor. |
