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Suns Hold Off Bryant, Lakers in Game 1

Posted on: Monday, 24 April 2006, 06:00 CDT

By BOB BAUM

PHOENIX - With just under nine minutes to play, Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson told Kobe Bryant it was "time to get aggressive."

In other words, time for him to take over.

Bryant couldn't quite pull it off, and the Phoenix Suns escaped with a 107-102 victory over the Lakers on Sunday in their playoff opener.

Even the NBA scoring champion can have a tough time turning it on after passing the ball to others all day.

The game plan was to get the ball inside against the severely small Suns.

"They told us all week they were going to do that," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We didn't believe them. Now we do."

Bryant followed Jackson's plan faithfully, and it nearly worked.

"I wasn't really looking to attack or to assert myself," Bryant said. "I think we had a lot of things we could take advantage of, and we did that. We had them right where we wanted them, just a couple of bounces didn't go our way."

Bryant scored 22 points - barely half of the 42.5 he averaged against Phoenix in the regular season - on 7-for-21 shooting. He was only 2-for-7 for six points in the first half.

"He was pretty much a setup man," D'Antoni said.

In other playoff games, it was Indiana 90, New Jersey 88; Detroit 92, Milwaukee 74; and Dallas 103, Memphis 93.

The Suns were far off their usual high-octane game.

"We certainly didn't play very well," Steve Nash said. "We look at that as a positive. We didn't play well and we found a way to win, and we've got a lot of improvement to make" going into Game 2 Wednesday night.

Tim Thomas led the Suns with 22 points and a career playoff-high 15 rebounds. Nash had 20 points, including a crucial 3-pointer with 1:07 to play, and 10 assists.

The Suns made 32 of a season-high 35 free throws, 8-for-8 by Nash.

"The Phoenix Suns set a record for fewest free throws in the league," Jackson said, "and here they have 35 free throws. This is a team we told our guys not to foul, and we end up sending them to the line 35 times. That was one of the things we didn't expect to happen."

Shawn Marion added 19 points, Boris Diaw 15 and Leandro Barbosa 15, nine in the fourth quarter.

Lamar Odom had 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Luke Walton matched his career best in any NBA game with 19 points for Los Angeles.

"Our game plan was to exploit the middle and do the things we wanted to, but he (Bryant) was still supposed to be a force over on that side of the offense," Jackson said. "I just felt he never really got in rhythm until the end, and we said, `Just go after it.'"

Bryant tried to comply. With his outside game off, he drove to the basket for a couple of easy layups. Another time, he tumbled to the floor without drawing a whistle.

"A tough no-call," Jackson said.

Bryant never did get the jump shot going, but said he felt good about the series.

"It's just a matter of finding that groove," he said. "We can really attack this team inside, and so that's what we're going to do. All I need is one jumper to go, and I'm hot."

After a 39-point first quarter, the Suns rarely got their trademark high-speed game in gear.

Trailing by as many as 14 in the second quarter and down 58-50 at the break, the Lakers used an uncharacteristically balanced attack and took advantage of the Suns' poor shooting to tie it at 75 after three quarters.

Pacers 90, Nets 88

At East Rutherford, N.J., former Nets guard Anthony Johnson made two free throws with 0.9 seconds left.

Jermaine O'Neal scored 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter for the sixth-seeded Pacers, who became the first road team to win a game in this postseason. Game 2 is Tuesday night at Continental Airlines Arena.

The Pacers forced Vince Carter and Jason Kidd into horrible shooting nights. Johnson, who was Kidd's backup in New Jersey when the Nets made consecutive NBA Finals appearances in 2002-03, finished with 12 points and six assists.

Carter had 31 points and 13 rebounds, but shot 12-of-33 from the field. Kidd was only 2-of-11 for five points for the Nets, the Atlantic Division champions.

Pistons 92, Bucks 74

At Auburn Hills, Mich., Rasheed Wallace scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half and Richard Hamilton scored 21 for Detroit.

Bucks star Michael Redd was held to 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting after averaging 25.4 during the regular season and 30 in four games against the Pistons. Reserve Charlie Bell led Milwaukee with 13 points.

The Pistons will also host Game 2 in the best-of-seven series Wednesday.

Mavericks 103, Grizzlies 93

At Dallas, the Mavericks shredded the NBA's stingiest defense with 60 first-half points and got key baskets when they needed them the rest of the way in the opener of their first-round series.

Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 31 points - 19 coming in the early surge - yet what really won this for Dallas was its energy and its depth. Backup center Erick Dampier exemplified both with 12 points, 12 rebounds and plays like a crowd-thrilling dunk off a loose ball just before halftime and an offensive rebound that turned into a three-point play early in the fourth quarter.

The Grizzlies are 0-9 in their postseason history, extending what already was the wrong kind of league record. Memphis' next chance comes in Game 2 on Wednesday night.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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