BOLT: Game 2

I only watched the latter 3/5 of this game, but a few things stick out.

1. When Marv Leavy informs me with 8:00 left in the 3rd quarter that Amare Stoudamire just pulled down his SECOND rebound, the Suns are not going to win this game. (He did finish with 6)

2. A forgotten element of the Lakers that I didn't point out in my previous post that makes them so hard to defend: Of the 8 people in regular rotation for LA, SEVEN of them can bring the ball up the floor. Of the starting 5, only Andrew Bynum can't be trusted with the ball on the floor, and their 3 off the bench are 2 point guards and Lamar Odom. This creates an incredibly dangerous transition threat, no matter what causes the transition.

3. The Suns tried straight doubling Kobe instead of playing a zone and he ate them up. Kobe found his friends Pau and Ron time and time again, with the most assists (13) in a Laker playoff game since Magic.

4. On the brightside for the Suns, although Channing Frye continues to waste space, Jared Dudley found his shot. Duds shot 5-5 from 3Pt range for his 15 points and just made the Suns better when he was on the floor, contributing 5 reb, 4 asts and 3 stl. Dudley was the only Sun with a positive +/- (+2). (Andrew Bynum was the only Laker with a negative +/- (-2))

5. Paul Gasol is a star. Unfortunately, it's impossible for the Suns defense to treat him as such, being they don't have the defensive prowess inside and already have their hands more than full with Kobe.

I previously had this going to the Lakers in 6, but now I'm thinking 5.

-APT