Tonight’s Starters:
Derek Fisher – Steve Nash
Kobe Bryant – Vince Carter
Ron Artest – Grant Hill
Pau Gasol – Channing Frye
Andrew Bynum – Robin Lopez
The Lakers bounced back from their dreadful loss against the Memphis Grizzlies at home by powering over the Detroit Pistons in their last game. The Pistons are a 11-24 team and the Lakers still have to prove they are the powerhouse team that they were expected to be.
Tonight, the back-to-back champs are heading to Phoenix to take on the struggling Suns. The Suns who have lost 7 of their last 10, and haven’t looked any better after the blockbuster trade which brought former All-Star guard Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus, and Marcin Gortat to the Suns. Vince Carter is averaging 18 points in his last three games with the Suns.
For the Lakers to dominate tonight, two players will need to show up in particular. Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom should be able to run the Lakers past the Suns with boards, aggressive offense in the paint, and out-playing their opponents. Both of them will see different players guarding them all night. Bynum can overpower all of the Phoenix defenders. Lamar is more versatile than most of the players that Phoenix will throw at him. Kobe and Pau should be able to do their thing all night if the defense and offense flows well.