Only a couple of weeks ago, Lakers Nation let out a collective sigh of relief after the Lakers triumphed from their hard fought battle with the youthful but vigorous Thunder. The Lakers were forced to flip their “on” switch much earlier than anticipated. If you recall, last year the Lakers waited until Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals to finally play up to the standards that all Lakers fans rigorously demand from them. After outlasting the feisty youngsters from Oklahoma City, Ron Artest quipped, “It’s great for us to get through it and understand that we’re not the best thing since sliced bread. We actually have to work.” Since then, the Lakers promptly dispatched the undersized and injury-riddled Jazz, sweeping Utah with relative ease. The Jazz provided so little resistance that headlines centered on the fans from the Great Salt Lake and their despicable behavior, so vile that even the most obsessive Justin Bieber followers would be appalled at the lack of civility.
The first two series offered valuable lessons for the Lakers moving forward. The Thunder forced the Lakers to shake off their complacency and play with purpose and maximum effort. Against the Jazz, the Lakers realized the importance of exploiting their size advantage by pounding the ball inside to Pau Gasol, who was 3 points shy of matching his playoff career high of 36 points in their last game. With everything the Lakers took from their playoff experience thus far, they’re going to need to put forth their best effort if they hope to succeed against the Suns.
Phoenix has been absolutely torching their opposition, winning 22 out of their last 26 games and head into Los Angeles with as much momentum and confidence as their division rivals. While it remains to be seen which side will prevail, one thing is certain: The Lakers will not be lacking motivation, not after what happened the last two times these teams collided in the postseason.
Next: The Level of Play in Suns-Lakers Series
Lakers-Suns playoff series are as fierce, unpredictable and inconceivable as a Raja Bell clothesline.
The Suns and Lakers last met in the playoffs as the 2 and 7 seeds respectively, in the first round of 2006 and again in 2007. Kobe Bryant remembers it well. Kobe Bryant will never forget it. It produced the most remarkable and deplorable moment in Kobe’s playing career.
2006 – It’s Game 4 of the first round series between Lakers and Suns. Two of the most sensational plays in Kobe Bryant’s career occur just minutes apart.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJaNFB-1tyQ
In case the first one wasn’t satisfying enough, here’s one that tops it.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdOi6mRJAi4
In overtime, Kobe gobbles up the loose ball, runs to the right elbow and elevates over two defenders waiting for him. Doesn’t matter to Kobe. He know it’s going in. Kobe releases a shout of euphoria as the Lakers go up 3-1 in the series, on the verge of pulling off one of the biggest first-round upsets ever. Tim Thomas stands akimbo, incredulous. The Staples Center erupts, incredible.
But this would not be a Hollywood ending for Kobe and the Lakers. In Game 7, the Lakers didn’t stand a chance. Kobe only took three shot in the second half when the Lakers had no one else to rely on and Bryant, as precarious as ever, didn’t shoot at all in the fourth quarter. The Lakers were blown out and humiliated. Not only did Phoenix become just the eighth team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a series, Kobe’s reputation was hit harder than one of Kimbo Slice’s victims on YouTube. Charles Barkley claimed that Kobe had “tanked” in game 7. Many onlookers speculated that Kobe stopped asserting himself just to prove how dreadful his team really was Kobe haters rejoiced at his deficiencies as a player, a teammate, a person. Not even the biggest Kobe apologist could defend his actions. Kobe’s credibility had taken a bigger blow than Kimbo Slice in the Octagon. The best player on the planet had quit on his team by not putting forth his best effort. His will and motivation to win had been questioned. (LeBron James, did you not learn anything from this game?)
2007 was a much less dramatic story which yielded the same result. There were no highlight reels worth posting. The Lakers lacked the poise, the talent, and the fortitude to make amends for their ill-fated choke job from the previous year and ended up losing the series in 5 games.
Lakers fans were concerned and upset. Some fans began openly questioning the Lakers decision to choose Kobe over Shaquille O’Neal, who propelled the Miami Heat to a championship the previous season. I could only remember one other period of Lakers basketball where the future looked as bleak as it did that summer. It was deja-vu. I felt like I was re-living the 1993 season all over again.
Next: Dealing with Charles Barkley and the Future Mayor of Sacramento
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Before Charles Barkley was on television with EJ slamming players in the studio, he was on the hardwood with KJ slamming over players. The 2006 Lakers were an overmatched in talent, but they came one game within pulling off an improbable upset. The only time a Lakers team nearly pulled off a bigger upset was in 1993, when league MVP Charles Barkley and the top seeded Suns were down 0-2 in their series to the Lakers, back in the days where teams still played best of 5 series in the first round. It was a Lakers team that consisted of a rapidly aging James Worthy and Magic Johnson’s successor, Sedale Threatt. For Lakers fans who don’t remember Threatt, here’s a clip.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdLLSWgtQf0
Phoenix head coach Paul Westphal guaranteed his team would come back and win the series. Just as he predicted, the Suns would take the next three games against the Lakers, making it to the NBA Finals for their second and last time in their history, where they were obliterated by the Chicago Bulls team, completing one of the greatest dynasties ever assembled, led by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and a coach named Phil Jackson.
Speaking of Phil Jackson, his Finals victory over Phoenix gave him the 3rd nba title of his illustrious career. In terms of success, Phil Jackson is regarded as the greatest coach in the history of professional sports. He has never missed the playoffs once in his coaching career and only has two losing postseasons ever –in 2006 and 2007 against Phoenix. Prior to that, Jackson has never lost in the first round of the playoffs, including his years without Michael Jordan. Phil Jackson should never be mentioned in the same breath as Randy Pfund, but the 1993 and 2006 postseason serves as a cautionary tale for Lakers fans that its not over ’til its over. In the upcoming series, expect the Zen Master to be as astute as ever.
Next: Guess who we’ve played more playoff games against than Boston?
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The Lakers have played in 56 playoff games against Phoenix, the most against any team aside from their arch rivals, the Boston Celtics While the Lakers are 7-4 against Phoenix in postseason series, they’ve lost 4 out of the last 5 meetings. The Lakers haven’t eliminated the Suns in the playoffs in over a decade. No one is more eager to buck the trend than Kobe Bryant.
Don’t forget that the main reason the Lakers have won 6 straight games is because Kobe is looking more and more like the Kobe of old rather than the old Kobe. Kobe has eclipsed the 30 point plateau in every one of those games, while shooting over 50% from the field. The Suns don’t have the versatile defenders to contain Kobe like they used to. Raja Bell and Shawn Marion are gone. While Grant Hill did an admirable job of guarding Manu Ginobli in the last round, Ginobli is nowhere close to the level of the most complete player in the game. Whether it’s Hill, Jefferson or Dudley, expect Kobe to be able to have his way on the offensive end, unleashing his full arsenal of moves on his opposing defender.
On the other side, Steve Nash, at 36, is the oldest starting point guard in the league. He’s like Betty White- as good as he’s ever been and seemingly better with age. Luckily for the Lakers, he also plays defensive as adroitly as Betty White does. The Lakers backcourt trio of Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown must take advantage of Nash’s suspect defense.
In spite of John Hollinger’s off kilter predictions of Suns in 6, his statistical analysis fails to take into account that size matters. Unless every Phoenix player grows 3 inches before the series begins, the Lakers literally have a huge advantage. Robin Lopez is the only player on the Suns roster listed at 7 feet but his status is uncertain. In the postseason, Amar’e Stoudemire leads Phoenix in rebounds with 7.0 per game. That’s half of what Pau Gasol has been averaging in the playoff.
The Suns most productive player this postseason has been Jason Richardson. He’s been averaging nearly 22 points per game and shooting over 50% from the field and beyond the arc. During the regular season, Phoenix lost 3 out of 4 games to the Lakers due in part to Richardson’s lack of production. He averaged less than 9 points per game against the Lakers on 31% shooting and only converted 3 out of 21 of his trifectas. Which Jason Richardson will show up? The answer is going to be a major determining factor for how long this series will last.
The Lakers x-factor, not surprisingly, is Lamar Odom. Remember in 2006, the Lakers almost pulled off an upset because L.O. had his way on the inside for most of the series. Odom is a matchup nightmare against any team, especially a team lacking an interior defensive presence such as the Suns. He would be wise to aggressively attack Amar’e Stoudemire every opportunity he can.
Although the Suns bench is loaded with scorers such as Leandro Barbosa, Channing Frye, Jared Dudly and even Goran Dragic, the Lakers still possess the most talent in the league. While the Suns defense is better than its been compared to past years, it’s a moot point– that’s like saying Jimmy Fallon is funnier now than he was a year ago.
The Lakers may not be the best thing since sliced bread but if they continue playing with the same level of intensity as they’ve been doing for the last 6 games, their opponents are toast. Prediction: Lakers in 6.
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