Like it or not, the L.A. Lakers are steadily approaching their third straight NBA Finals appearance in as many years and will likely match up with familiar foe Orlando in a couple weeks. They’ll have to get through Phoenix of course, but I really can’t see that being an issue after L.A. took the season series 3-1.
The postseason got off to a bit of a shaky start for the defending champs, and I think we all learned a little something about the powers that are Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in that Oklahoma City series. But after tearing through the Utah Jazz for the third straight season, it looks like my troublesome Lakers have finally started to right the ship.
I’ll admit before the playoffs began, I said I wouldn’t be surprised if L.A. didn’t show up and was quickly bounced from the playoffs. Glad to say the team proved me wrong — especially Kobe Bryant. Seeing Kobe get shut down by the lanky Durant in the opening round even made me question if his game was finally going to start catching up to his age. But his current stint of five straight 30-point games silenced those questions.
The Suns are white hot, much like Denver was a year ago at this point in the postseason, and things look pretty statistically even. Both squads have gone 8-2 through their first 10 games, including their current six-game winning streaks. L.A. hasn’t lost at home (5-0), and Phoenix hasn’t missed a beat on the road (4-1).
Here’s the problem I have with the Suns. Aside from their dramatically improved defense this postseason, they’re not a great team on that side of the ball. They made up for it as the top ranked offense in the regular season, scoring 110.2 points per game, but when it comes down to it, the Suns don’t match up well.
Clearly they’ll win the point guard position — a blind Steve Nash would still make Derek Fisher look silly. Not to take anything away from Fish’s huge three-pointer late in game four against Utah, but he’s been chasing younger point guards all over the court the past few weeks and Nash is the ringleader of them all.
The two-guard spot is no contest. Kobe will see the likes of Jason Richardson, Grant Hill and maybe even Leandro Barbosa if the time calls for it, none of who claim to be lock down defenders by any means. J-Rich will probably put up the toughest fight physically, but Kobe’s post game is too strong for any of those three to go one-on-one with.
Moving to the three-guard, Ron Artest will see whoever doesn’t draw the short straw on guarding Kobe, probably Grant Hill to start out with. Neither of these players interest me; let’s move on to the real question. How does Phoenix plan to defend the Lakers’ big men? Forward Amar’e Stoudemire, who leads the Suns in points (23.1), rebounds (8.9), and blocks (1.01) per game this season, will battle with a double-double machine in Pau Gasol. Gasol hasn’t been affected by any of the bigs he’s seen through the first 10 games, pulling double-digit boards in all but one of those outings.
But you can’t forget about the true center Andrew Bynum, who can also cause matchup problems for Phoenix. Luckily for the Suns, Bynum is listed as day-to-day right now, for what seems like the millionth time, but if he can get healthy and stay that way, he could be the difference maker in the series. Of course everyone says that about Bynum in almost every series, and he never seems to live up to the hype. The Suns will probably assign a returning Robin Lopez — who hasn’t played since April 14 — to defend Bynum, and maybe even a dash of Jarron Collins if he can stay out of foul trouble.
Ultimately I don’t think the Suns have enough to beat L.A. with home court advantage, nor does any other team left in the playoffs. People keep bringing up the Magic to me, I say nay. I’ll give the Suns five, maybe even six games, before I’ll start worrying about Orlando.
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