Lakers Scorch The Suns On The Road

The Phoenix Suns hosted the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday night. Though Kobe Bryant had a below-average game he's got so much help on this Los Angeles Lakers team it didn't really matter. Bryant scored 24 points, Vladimir Radmanovic made all five of his 3-pointers and a host of others made significant contributions to help the Lakers soar past the Phoenix Suns, 105-92 on Thursday night.






Fun Facts
• Kobe Bryant scored 24 points, Pau Gasol had nine rebounds and nine assists, and the Lakers won for the ninth time in 10 games while improving to 31-6 in the regular season when Gasol plays.
• Vladimir Radmanovic, who'd scored 19 points combined in his previous five games, finished with 15 points, making all five of his 3-point attempts.
• Amare Stoudemire led the Suns with 21 points on 9-of-21 shooting.
• The Suns have lost two straight after winning four of the previous five.


Kobe Bryant shot only 8-of-23, but the Lakers overwhelmed Phoenix with their depth. Six players reached double figures as Los Angeles improved its record to a league-best 9-1. "I was telling Luke Walton about 10 minutes ago that this might be the first season I average 31 minutes because we've been blowing people out," Bryant said. "I've been sitting the whole fourth quarter. That's pretty amazing." Bryant did make a fourth-quarter cameo, but mostly it was left to the reserves to finish off Phoenix. Radmanovic scored 15, Lamar Odom 13, Jordan Farmar 11, and Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza 10 apiece for Los Angeles. Pau Gasol scored only four points but had nine assists and nine rebounds.

"They're the best team," the Suns' Shaquille O'Neal said. "They're 9-1. They're playing good. Kobe's playing team ball, keeping everybody involved. He's got a lot of shooters around him. They're a very dangerous team." Amare Stoudemire scored 21 for Phoenix on 9-for-21 shooting. The Lakers' reserves outscored their Suns counterparts 42-30. "It's the kind of game we need from our bench," Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson said. "We were able to play them most of the fourth quarter." The Lakers had 21 points off 15 Phoenix turnovers. Los Angeles committed just seven turnovers, resulting in seven points for the Suns.


Radmanovic had only five points and was 0-for-2 on 3s in the Lakers' victory over Chicago on Tuesday night. "We'd been kidding him that he'd not made a shot the last week," Jackson said. O'Neal added 15 points and nine rebounds against a team he helped win three NBA titles. The Suns' Steve Nash was scoreless in the first half and finished with eight points and 10 assists, leaving the court with back spasms with 4:38 to play.


"I thought Raja Bell did a great job on Kobe," Phoenix coach Terry Porter said. "He goes 8-for-23 and he has other guys step up. That's what's made these guys good this year." The Lakers made 10 of 21 3-pointers to win in Phoenix for the third straight time. Los Angeles took the lead for good late in the first half. The Lakers led by 14 in the third quarter and were up 89-71 when Odom sank a 3-pointer with 8:34 to play. Phoenix cut the lead to 10 in the final few minutes but got no closer. The Lakers went on a 14-0 run to end the first quarter and start the second, taking a 32-24 lead on Bynum's 10-footer. The Suns responded with a 12-2 spurt to go up 37-34 when Grant Hill made one of two free throws with 7:05 left in the half.



The Suns cut it twice to eight before back-to-back 3-pointers by Radmanovic and Derek Fisher gave Los Angeles a 76-62 with 2:21 left in the third. The Lakers led 80-67 entering the fourth and finished off the Suns in the fourth quarter with a strong performance from their bench.



Next Matchup: Friday November 21st @ Denver against the Nuggets 7:30 PM (PST)