The Los Angeles Lakers were beaten 95-87 on Sunday in the opening game of their first round series with the Phoenix Suns. They will play again in Phoenix on Tuesday night.
Unlike the Golden State Warriors and the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers could not manage to get a road game victory against one of the clear NBA title favorites over the weekend. Kobe was hot in the first half, scoring 28, but cooled down dramatically in the third and fourth quarter, ending with a game-high 39 points. Leandro Barbosa came off the bench for the Suns to lead Phoenix with 26 points. Amare Stoudemire added 23 and Steve Nash had 20 points and 10 assists.
The Lakers saw a halftime lead quickly vanish in the third quarter. Then in the fourth Los Angeles could only muster a measly 10 points. As Kobe went 1-10 from the field, the rest of the Lakers team watched and waited for somebody to do something. Though the strategy hasn’t worked all season long, Odom, Walton, Parker, and Brown figured waiting it out was due to pay off in the playoffs. Maybe next game.
For most of those loyal Los Angeles Lakers playoff tickets buyers out there, this game will go down as a big missed opportunity. The high-scoring Suns struggled to score at times, especially in the first half. Nobody, with the exception of Kobe, thought to take advantage of the Sun’s off day. Good thing your source for great playoff tickets, StubHub.com, always scores in the clutch- great seats, that is!