Sunday's game was important to both the Lakers and the Suns but the Suns showed why they are currently a #2 seed and the Lakers are a #7 seed. While the final score was 115-108, the outcome of the game didn't really seem in question about halfway through the third quarter. Even when Shawn Marion went out with 5 fouls with about 9 minutes left in the third quarter, the Suns were able to pick up the slack and keep ahead of the Lakers. When Shawn Finally entered in the fourth quarter, the Suns turned on the heat again and got up to a double-digit lead before giving it up again at the end of the game when the outcome was secure.
Raja Bell found his shooting touch from the three-point line again going 6-6. Unfortunately, shooting in front of the three-point line still seems to be causing him problems. He only shot 1-7 for 2-point shots. However, if Bell is hot behind the arc, it opens the game up for Amare and Shawn to slash toward the basket and it makes the game a lot easier.
Boris Diaw only played 22 minutes, shot 4-10 and scored 8 points. He also had 7 rebounds and 2 assists. I'm not sure why he sat in the 4th quarter since 7 rebounds is pretty good. He seemed to come out with a lot of fire and was shooting the ball early but seemed to either lose Mike D'Antoni's confidence or needed to rest his back in the 2nd half. I'm not sure which.
Steve Nash had his usual 25 points and 11 assists and Leandro Barbosa was awesome again keeping the Lakers running and scoring 23 points.
The one thing I really liked about the Suns was they seemed to enjoy playing the game yesterday. At one point in the 4th quarter, they were passing the ball around and the Lakers just couldn't keep up. Next thing we knew, Amare was open underneath the basket and he went in for an open dunk. It was beautiful basketball. One of the announcers on ABC actually said it looked like the Globetrotters. I can't imagine Phil Jackson is happy about his team being called the Washington Generals.
Overall, it looked like the team was having fun again. The Suns have 5 games left: Seattle, LA Lakers, Utah, Houston and the Clippers. Utah and Houston are the two teams I am worried about. The Lakers may also come out upset at the loss and trying to avenge it so that could be a worrisome game. Looking at the Spurs easy schedule at the end of the season, it's going to come down to the wire on who gets the 2nd seed and who gets the 3rd seed.
What were your thoughts on the game?