[CoachGreg]

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Kobe, Lakers heat up in 4th quarter to pull away from Suns

PHOENIX, AZ - After opening night, there has to be a sense that this Lakers team could be ranked up there in the hierarchy of the greatest teams this organization has ever had. The 1971-72 Lakers, you can take your pick from the 1980's and quite possibly the 1999-00 Lakers, but with this current squad adding the key parts that were needed to maintain a high level of play, they have gotten alot back from their investments. Tuesday night it was Steve Blake scoring a season high 17 points against the Rockets and tonight it was Matt Barnes. Barnes scored a season high 18 points on 6-8 shooting as the Lakers turned a 70-63 lead after three quarters into a 107-80 rout against the Phoenix Suns. The Suns had opened up the second half with a 10-0 run to take a 54-48 lead, but the Lakers slowly worked their offense, settled down and were patient in passing up the open shot for a even better shot. Evidence pointed to Kobe Bryant who despite a 9-24 shooting night, led the Lakers with 26 points and team high 8 assists. Pau Gasol finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds rounding out the Lakers who scored in double figures. The Lakers took a 48-44 lead into halftime.

The Suns after their brief run to start the second half were once again unable to find a way to attack the basket and get out in transition against the Lakers defense. Not only were they cut off at every turn to attack, but they were challenged on every perimeter shot. "It's very difficult to keep up with their level of intensity through the course of the game when they have the players that they have", said Suns coach Alvin Gentry. "Kobe, Pau, Odom, Bynum, Artest, and then you add Fisher, Barnes, Blake, Brown, I don't see what else can be done when those players are playing at the level they are playing at right now." Grant Hill seemed to play at a very high level, leading the Suns with 20 points and 5 rebounds while Vince Carter couldn't overcome a dreadful shooting night (6-20 from the field and 2-10 from three point range) putting up only 14 points. Steve Nash was the only other Suns player to get into double figures with 10 points and 9 assists, but shot only 4-13 from the field.

Game notes: Shannon Brown suffered a broken wrist late in the third quarter when taking a charge on Suns forward Grant Hill. Brown was taken into the lockerroom by trainer Gary Vitti, but later returned to the bench and back into the game for the final two minutes. After the game Brown said that his wrist is sore, but he is available to play Sunday against the Warriors.

Spoiler

Los Angeles Lakers (2-0) @ Phoenix Suns (1-2)
Oct 29, 2010 1 2 3 4 OT Final Lakers 28 20 22 37 - 107 Suns 27 17 19 17 - 80 Top Performers Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant - 26 pts, 8 asts, 4-5 3FG's Matt Barnes - 18 pts, 5 rebs, 3 asts, 6-8 FG's Phoenix Suns Grant Hill - 20 pts, 5 rebs, 2 asts Vince Carter - 14 pts, 6 rebs, 4 asts	Team Stats Comparison LAL PHO FG Made-Att 39-87 33-98 3PT Made-Att 12-19 6-27 FT Made-Att 17-22 8-11 Rebounds 53 54 Assists 27 21 Turnovers 11 9 Steals 7 9 Blocks 9 3 Fast Break Points 0 11
Los Angeles Lakers STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT REB AST STL BLK TO PTS Ron Artest 29 3-6 0-2 2-2 6 0 0 1 1 8 Pau Gasol 25 6-13 0-0 5-9 6 0 0 2 1 17 Andrew Bynum 31 3-10 0-0 1-1 9 4 1 2 3 7 Kobe Bryant 36 9-24 4-5 4-4 2 8 0 1 2 26 Derek Fisher 30 4-5 1-2 0-0 6 2 4 0 1 9 BENCH MIN FG 3PT FT REB AST STL BLK TO PTS Lamar Odom 25 2-7 1-1 0-0 4 3 2 2 1 5 Steve Blake 19 3-5 2-2 0-0 4 5 0 0 0 8 Shannon Brown 13 2-7 2-5 0-0 5 0 0 0 0 6 Matt Barnes 20 6-8 2-2 4-4 5 3 0 1 2 18 Theo Ratliff 9 0-0 0-0 1-2 2 1 0 0 0 1 Joe Smith 8 1-2 0-0 0-0 4 1 0 0 0 2 Devin Ebanks -- DID NOT PLAY -- Derrick Caracter -- DID NOT PLAY -- Luke Walton -- DID NOT PLAY -- Trey Johnson -- DID NOT PLAY --
Phoenix Suns STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT REB AST STL BLK TO PTS Grant Hill 37 9-17 0-1 2-3 5 1 2 0 2 20 Hakim Warrick 32 3-7 0-0 2-2 10 0 2 0 3 8 Marcin Gortat 33 2-10 0-0 0-0 11 1 0 1 0 4 Vince Carter 29 6-20 2-10 0-0 6 4 1 0 0 14 Steve Nash 33 4-13 1-2 1-2 4 9 1 0 2 10 BENCH MIN FG 3PT FT REB AST STL BLK TO PTS Aaron Brooks 29 3-14 0-4 3-4 3 6 0 0 0 9 Jared Dudley 18 2-7 2-5 0-0 5 0 2 0 0 6 Mickael Pietrus 9 2-5 1-4 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 5 Robin Lopez 13 2-4 0-0 0-0 7 0 0 1 0 4 Garet Siler 9 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 1 1 0 Channing Frye 4 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 Josh Childress -- DID NOT PLAY --