Sun. 2/22 vs. Suns - Results Inside - Postgame comments

100
90

1:50 4th Quarter

KOBE'S ON FIRE.

104
92

FINAL

Kobe ends up with 40 points and the Lakers win! I may have a PERFECT Good Call game!

Kobe for mvp.

4 won streak!!..w00t

Check out Kobe's line:

-40 points
-15/25 shooting
-7 rebounds
-5 assists
-2/5 from beyond the arc
-3 steals

very nice game by KOBE, however the rest of the game wasn't too good.

good game, and another good win for us. That's 4-0 since the break, impressive stuff right there.

and Kobe had a big 4th, 16 points in the 4th quarter

I stand corrected. We may have slept through the game, but I hope that it is an indication of where we are headed. Kobe is the BEST in the league without a doubt. His stats do not tell the tale of his overall presence on the floor. Shaq is better because of KOBE, not the other way around.

Final Stats

Kobe-40 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 8-8 from the line, 2-5 from downtown, 15-25 from the field, all in 42 minutes
GP-20 points, 5 rebounds, & 5 assists
Shaq-19 points, 5 rebounds, & 4 blocks
Rush-7 points
Fox-4 points, 7 rebounds, & 5 dimes
Russell finally got a little time-4 points in 5 minutes
Cook, Grant, and Luke-2 points each
Fisher-4 point
George & Slava combined for- o points, 0-9 from the field, and they played 19 & 14 minutes, that's sad. They need to be benched

Correction to the stats... DFish had 4 points.

Good win Lakers!!! 4 game winning streak

I fixed it, yahoo screwed up

Very amazing game by Kobe Bryant. Shaq was dominant. He was moving real well when it counted in the 4th tonight.

If these two play like this, there's no question in my mind we are headed for a title.

One thing that angered me is Russel. That man is sooo valuable to this team. He needs more time. I'm upset he is getting more time.

well, Russell played 5 minute tonight. And he certainly deserves time, he scored 4 points in that time period, it would have been 5 points, but his foot was on the line when he took the 3. Hopefully Phil will play him more, since George is in a slump. I think the SF minutes will be split more between Fox & Russell, while George continues to struggle. Phil likes playing Luke (when Luke plays) at the PF, when we go small.

I think the SF minutes will be split more between Fox & Russell, while George continues to struggle.

See that's very logical to me. Even when George isn't struggling Russell needs time. He's not all about offense. He had some key defensive plays tonight. He's a strong, veteran who is very valuble for us.

Also, did anyone else notice that when Fisher, George, and Rush are in at the same time they play better together? I think that's a key 2nd lineup with these three out there at the same time. It seems there confidence rises somehow, and each get more looks it seems. I don't know, I'll see how consistent these three play together over the next couple of games. But tonight they looked good together.

good game, was it 'pick on shaq' night or what? anyway, great win to end the weekend.

I didn't see the game, but great win, Kobe dominated the Suns, GP and Shaq did well, and almost everyone contributed! When Karl comes back, look out, this team will be unstoppable.

ITS JOEY wrote:good game, was it 'pick on shaq' night or what? anyway, great win to end the weekend.

at first it's like a pick on shaq game..but after kobe talk to the officials things changed..haha..or kinda changed

I was at the game, and it was like another Staple Center. nothing but Laker fans! . im sure that they felt at home here.

That was a good game Kobe was excellent and Fox got some steals but, Slava is playing like garbage he needs to get his shot back

DynamicDuo wrote:I was at the game, and it was like another Staple Center. nothing but Laker fans! . im sure that they felt at home here.

Yeah...

I bet it was exciting. The Suns crowd did cheer alot now that I think about it. But I know personally that there are alot of Laker fans from Phx, and Arizona.

Pretty cool man... But I doubt it was like another STAPLES Center

Quote O' Da Night
Credit: uberzev from LG.net

PHIL JACKSON: “I don’t know if we can play much better than we played that second half. There are some defensive things we can do better, but offensively we played a real good game. Kobe is almost at the peak of his game. Shaq and Gary (Payton) contributed, we had players filling roles, it was very good.�

(On the Lakers’ Big Three)
“They did score some points. But there were some things done in the context of how the team wanted to play. It was very important to us. Moving the ball, running counter actions against Phoenix that we had to do in the second half. They made good adjustments as a team.�

SHAQUILLE O’NEAL (19 pts, 5 rebs): “The first half, we got off to a fast start and we kind of let them get back into it. The third and fourth quarter, we played good defense. Kobe had an exceptional game. Gary played good. They doubled me a lot and I tried to hit the open guy.� (On Kobe’s play)

“He’s just playing with a lot of energy. He likes to pick his play up in the second half of the season and he’ll be real sharp for the playoffs�

KOBE BRYANT (40 pts, 7 rebs): “We played very well. In the third quarter, they came out with a surge and we were able to hold them off, and actually keep the lead going into the fourth quarter. I feel like I’m getting better every day. Tonight we needed me to score more points. Fortunately for us, I was able to do that and also get involved in other actions of the game. It was a good game.�

GARY PAYTON: (20 pts, 5 asts): “It feels good because we’re starting to get in a rhythm now. Everybody is starting to play. We’re being unselfish. Everybody is giving everybody the ball. Everybody is getting good looks and we’re playing defense. That’s the best part about it. As soon as Karl (Malone) gets back, we’ll try to fit him in and hopefully we’ll get him in the same rhythm that we’re in right now. If we can get him back with about 20 games left and get him in a rhythm for the playoffs, we’ll be fine.�

MIKE D’ANTONI: “At some point we had a breakdown. Defensively they just killed us. It’s something we have to do offensively. We have to learn it. We just aren’t getting it done. I thought there were a lot of great things. It was a good efforts by Shawn (Marion) and Jahidi (White). Jahidi did as well as he could do against Shaq (O’Neal). But Kobe (Bryant) got off. You get one hole plugged up and then another one opens, and then the whole thing starts to leak.

“Kobe is unbelievable, that’s all we talked about, Kobe and Shaq. These guys are very good. We have to play Shaquille the whole time. We got shook a little bit. We just had some tough moments, but I thought we played the Lakers pretty well. They are experienced.�

AMARÉ STOUDEMIRE (25 pts, 12 rebs): “It’s tough to have to lose this way again. It is the story of this season. We felt that we had played a good game against the Lakers. It’s hard to contain a team that has two of the best players in the league.�

(On his fourth quarter flurry)
“Kobe had a strong game going into the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter, in close situations, is what this game boils down to. Kobe had a strong impact for his team in the fourth and I just wanted to try and adjust my game so that I could provide an impact for us.�

“This game hurts us. We are fighting against an eight-game losing streak and it’s not a good feeling. We need to get a win soon so that we can gain some confidence in ourselves and get back on the right track.�

SHAWN MARION (22 pts, 13 rebs): “We played them strong tonight. We just have not been able to finish them off. I think that pushing the ball for fast break opportunities is are biggest strength right now, and we stopped looking for that. Our defense is key to our fast break opportunities, which was not there tonight.

“This loss hurts because we were so close with them, and if we just had a few stops on the defensive end, or if we had not turned the ball over in a few situations, we could have had a win tonight.�

JOE JOHNSON (11 pts, 9 asts): “We hung with them all night long, even coming back from a large first quarter deficit. But like most of our games lately, we were just not able to finish them at the end.�

(On Bryant’s performance):
“He had a good game. It’s tough to match up with the Lakers because they have so many different angles they can capitalize on. Shaquille (O’Neal) had some foul trouble, so Kobe picked it up and had a strong second half to compliment his first half.�