Bryant, Lakers Beat Suns to Tie Series
By BOB BAUM
PHOENIX – Two games into the playoffs, Kobe Bryant is as much a leader as he is a scorer. And he has the Los Angeles Lakers tied in their first-round series with the Phoenix Suns. Bryant had 29 points and 10 rebounds, Lamar Odom scored 21 and the Lakers held off a late rally to beat the cold-shooting Suns 99-93 on Wednesday night.
"Kobe was leading us perfect tonight," the Lakers’ Kwame Brown said. "Everybody expects him to come out and score 40 because it’s the playoffs, but he did what a leader and general should do."
Expect coach Phil Jackson to stay with the game plan for Game 3 on Friday night in Los Angeles.
"During the regular season, when everyone was trying to learn the offense, Phil and I both knew I was going to have to shoulder the scoring load," Bryant said. "Now in the playoffs, everyone has a rhythm for the game and we can start attacking as a union.
"It’s not me trying to go out there and score 40 or 50 points."
In other NBA playoff games, Detroit topped Milwaukee 109-98 and Dallas beat Memphis 94-79 to take 2-0 series leads.
The Arizona Republic, quoting an an unidentified league source, reported Wednesday morning that Nash would repeat as the NBA’s most valuable player. He looked the role for a good portion of Wednesday night’s game, finishing with 29 points. Raja Bell added 23, but the Suns shot 43 percent – 34 percent in the first half.
Los Angeles led by as many as 17 late in the second quarter and early in the third after Phoenix went nearly 7 1/2 minutes without a point.
"We’ve really struggled to be ourselves regardless of how they play us," Nash said. "We’ve got a little bit of, I don’t know if it’s playoff anxiety or what. We really just need to get back to being ourselves."
The Suns excel at high speeds, and they were tentative and clanked shot after shot off the rim in the first half.
"For whatever reason, it looks like it’s almost a weight on our shoulders or whatever," Phoenix coach Mike D’Antoni said. "We just need to get out there and run. We’ve got to bust through some barriers there for whatever reason."
Bryant’s emphatic stuff with 3:13 left put the Lakers ahead 92-83. Nash was called for a foul on the play, but Bryant missed the free throw.
Bell scored six in a row, the last a 20-footer at the shot clock buzzer to cut the lead to 92-89 with 1:51 to play. But he missed a 3-pointer that would have tied it. Smush Parker scored inside and Luke Walton sank two free throws to put Los Angeles ahead 96-89 with 34.5 seconds to go.
"There were some dramatic plays down the stretch, and I thought our composure was not what I like," Jackson said. "But we were able to sustain the effort and get a couple of terrific plays – one from Smush and one from Kobe. I thought defensively it was our night, and that was the best thing about it."
Bryant finished 12-for-24 shooting after going 7-for-21 in Game 1.
"He stayed very well inside of what we’re trying to do," Jackson said.
Odom shot 9-for-12, 3-for-5 from 3-point range.
"Lamar is a dangerous player," Bryant said. "There are not too many like him in the league. As a matter of fact, he’s probably the only one in the league that size who can handle the ball, post you up and shoot the 3."
Phoenix went 7:22 without scoring while the Lakers reeled off 19 points to open a 38-22 lead on Jim Jackson’s 20-footer with 6:17 left in the half.
The Suns went without a point from the 1:30 mark of the first quarter to 6:08 left in the second as they struggled from the perimeter.
The Lakers shot 58 percent in the first half, including 5-of-6 by Odom.
After Bryant’s 20-footer to start the second half, Phoenix finally mounted a run, outscoring the Lakers 20-6 to cut it to 61-58 on Tim Thomas’ 3-pointer with 5:25 left in the third. But Los Angeles scored the next six, four by Bryant, to boost the lead to 67-58.
Phoenix scored six straight, including two free throws apiece by James Jones and Shawn Marion, to cut the lead to 72-67, then Bryant’s driving bank shot just before the buzzer put the Lakers up 74-67 entering the fourth.
Marion was 5-of-15 shots for 13 points.
Pistons 109, Bucks 98
At Auburn Hills, Mich., Tayshaun Prince scored 22 points and Chauncey Billups had 20 as Detroit snapped a streak of three straight losses in Game 2s. Game 3 is Saturday night in Milwaukee.
Bucks star Michael Redd bounced back from an 11-point game with 29, but didn’t get much help.
Richard Hamilton, who left Game 1 with a sprained left ankle, had 18 points and eight assists in 33 minutes for the Pistons.
Mavericks 94, Grizzlies 79
At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points to beat Memphis, which has never won a postseason game.
The Grizzlies went 16 straight possessions without a point and 10:47 between baskets over the middle two quarters, taking them out of what had been a close game.
Memphis dropped to 0-10 in its postseason history; that’s four more losses than any NBA team has had before its first victory. The Grizzlies will head home for Game 3 on Saturday halfway to being swept for the third straight year.
The Grizzlies’ Pau Gasol scored 10 points in the first quarter, but finished with 16.
Josh Howard scored 17 points and Jason Terry had 16 points and nine assists for Dallas.