The Lakers offense just steamrolled Phoenix in Game 1. Part of that was the Lakers -- Kobe Bryant's jumper is not consistent with a wrap on his finger, but it was in Game 1 -- but it was equally that the Suns played terrible defense.
Monday night, the Suns were most gracious hosts to Lakers who ventured into the paint to shoot -- there were wide lanes, open shots, a nice spread of tapas like that amazing Escalivada they serve at Bazaar, basically everything but glasses of Cristal.
The Lakers took advantage of their hosts, scoring 56 points in the paint, both on drives and Pau Gasol's nifty footwork inside. The Lakers were driving right around guys on the perimeter and getting into the lane at will. The Lakers finished the game 27 of 38 on shots inside 10 feet. That's a lot of shots, a lot of makes.
For Game 2, the Suns have to adjust, and they are going to try to take away those chip shots. They are going to get physical. They are going to try to punch the Lakers in the mouth (figuratively), to be rude and uncomfortable hosts.
There will be more too it than that. The Suns should throw some different looks at Kobe on Wednesday night, try to get the ball out of his hands a little more as he dropped 40 on them last game. Look for them to give him some early double teams, but they have to switch it up. You can't keep giving Kobe one look because he adapts too quickly. The Suns may also consider putting a body on Lamar Odom -- he's not just lucky.
The Lakers need to keep doing what they were doing on defense. Los Angeles contested shots, but Phoenix just missed some open looks they cannot afford to in this series. That will not happen again Wednesday; bet on it.
What else the Lakers did well defensively in game one was slow the Suns vaunted pick-and-roll game -- the Suns were just 9 of 16 directly off the play in Game 1 (56 percent). That is low for them, both in shots and makes. The Lakers defended it best with Gasol and Odom out -- look for more of that combo, less of Bynum, especially late in games. With his knee, he is not nearly as mobile on those plays.
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But this really comes down to if the Lakers can continue to dominate the Suns defense. If Phoenix can't push the Lakers out of their comfort zone, Los Angeles fans may be cheated out of getting to see a Game 5 here next week. Not that the Lakers would feel bad about that.
Kurt Helin lives in Los Angeles and is the Blogger-in-Chief of NBC's NBA blog Pro Basketball Talk (which you can also follow in twitter).
