Kobe Bryant scored 29 points, Andrew
Bynum had 26 points and 15 rebounds in his return from injury and the
Lakers put the brakes on the Phoenix Suns' fast start with a 121-102
victory Thursday night.
Josh Powell scored 14 points for the
defending champions, who won their sixth straight and improved to 7-1
by handing the Suns their second loss of the season.
Los Angeles snapped the Suns'
four-game winning streak by countering Phoenix's up-tempo style with
defense and the Lakers' own transition game, handily winning an
entertaining November matchup between two of the NBA's most impressive
teams so far.
Steve Nash had 13 points and five
assists for the Suns, who had their worst shooting night of the season.
The two-time MVP sat out the final 15 1/2 minutes after getting little
help from his teammates.
Amare Stoudemire endured a 2-for-15
shooting night, while Grant Hill managed just nine points. Jason
Richardson missed all five of his 3-point attempts while scoring only
five points for the NBA's highest-scoring team, although the reserves
had 21 in the final 5:45 to help Phoenix reach 100 for the 10th time
this season.
Jared Dudley led the Suns with 14
points, but they failed to match the 1980-81 club's franchise-best 9-1
start. The Suns made just 36.5 percent of their shots (38 for 104)
after never going lower than 45.5 percent this season.
Bynum looked sharp in his return to
the Lakers' starting lineup after a two-game absence with a strained
right elbow. Los Angeles still is without Pau Gasol, who won't make the
trip to Denver for Friday's rematch of the Western Conference finals
while rehabilitating his strained hamstring.
In the first half, Los Angeles
frequently played at something approaching the Suns' favored breakneck
tempo, and the Lakers were better at it than Phoenix. After Bryant's 12
first-quarter points put the Lakers ahead early, Los Angeles scored the
final eight points of the first half to take a 59-45 lead.
Phoenix had just five assists on its
17 first-half field goals — nine fewer baskets than the Lakers — with
combined 3-for-19 shooting by Richardson and Stoudemire.
The Suns' lack of sync showed in a
quick stretch of the third quarter, when Nash threw a pass into the
stands moments before Lamar Odom hit Bryant with a quarter-court alley-oop
pass for a behind-the-head dunk, putting the Lakers up 80-55.
Shannon Brown punctuated the win
with consecutive high-flying dunks in the lane midway through the
fourth quarter, putting Los Angeles up by 26.
Notes
Lakers coach Phil Jackson
earned his 1,048th victory, tying Charlotte's Larry Brown for
fifth-most in NBA history. … Alvin Gentry and Jackson both expressed
surprise at New Orleans coach Byron Scott's firing earlier in the day.
Los Angeles and the Suns both routed the Hornets in the past week, but
both coaches thought Scott had earned more time to figure out his
club's rotation. … Richardson and Los Angeles' Sasha Vujacic got
offsetting technical fouls 4.3 seconds before halftime for a
confrontation after Richardson's hard foul on Bryant. … The Rev.
Jesse Jackson, Zac Efron, Heather Locklear, George Lopez and Eliza
Dushku were among the courtside celebrities.