Suns Facing Elimination by Lakers
The Suns find themselves in a horrible spot waking up today - facing a possible elimination game Tuesday night in Phoenix against the Lakers. Despite their hard work & determination, they were unable to stop the Los Angeles and Kobe Bryant from taking a 3-1 lead in the series. They're actually lucky to have one win if you think about it - a controversial call at the end of Game 1 is the only reason the Suns have a win. Tim Thomas even admitted to fouling Kobe at the end, but it was a no-call and Phoenix was victorious.
The Lakers are really outplaying the Suns in nearly every aspect of the game, particularly in slowing down the run & gun Phoenix squad. Shawn Marion fouled out of Game 4 with just over 2 minutes left, so the team was without their best rebounder & defender for the rest of the 4th quarter and in overtime.
Kudos to Smush Parker who hit a huge 3-pointer late in the game and who also stole the ball from Steve Nash on the last possession of the 4th quarter, leading to a Kobe Bryant layup and subsequent tie-game.
Kobe stole the show in overtime and won the game on a 17-foot jump shot.
How the Suns can win Game 5:
- Rebound better - besides Marion, no one else on the team is consistently rebounding the ball.
- Stop relying on 3-pt shots - they need to get closer looks at the basket and quit shooting 25 3-pointers a game. I know this is part of their game, but they're not doing a good job of it right now so they need to adjust.
- Stop the Lakers team - that sounds trivial, but stopping everyone BUT Kobe should be the focus. The Lakers usually lose when Kobe is the only one playing well, so shut everyone else down.
I see the Suns winning Game 5 and heading back to LA with facing another elimination game down 3-2 in the series; at least they'll still be in it though.