I like what the Suns are doing on defense, but to me, this series comes down to the Lakers' ability to control the tempo of the game. The Lakers will win every time if they can keep the Suns under 100. The Lakers are just a better half court team offensively and defensively than the Suns, and they're getting baited into running and gunning with the Suns. They won the first 2 games, because the Suns had problems matching up M2M defensively due to the Lakers' size. But the zone is causing just enough problems to allow the Suns to create a few more run out opportunities.
I'm still going for the Suns of course, because of my bias towards Steve Nash. The realist in me says that they will lose the series though because Phil Jackson is going to make the necessary defensive adjustments in Game 5 and Game 6. The real chance the Suns had to win this game was in Game 2, when they were tied heading into the 4th quarter, in LA. But Gentry went with his routine of keeping Steve Nash on the bench until the 6 minute mark, which turned out was too late, and the Lakers managed to build a big lead. If the Suns lose this series, they're going to look back at Game 2 and say that was the one that got away.
Anyways, I leave you with another picture of Steve, now with a broken nose to go with that still healing black eye:
You know you've really made it as a true Canadian icon when you get a plug from Hockey Night in Canada's Don Cherry:
Totally agree. If Phoenix would've won game 2, and stolen a game in LA I'd say they'd win this series. But Lakers in 7.
ReplyDeleteGood post.