News / Sports
NBA Scores: Suns Keep Kobe in Check in Second Half to Beat Lakers in Game One
Shawn Marion scored 16 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, Steve Nash scored 20 and dished out 10 assists and Amare Stoudemire added 23 points and 12 rebounds as the Phoenix Suns used a balanced attack to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 95-87 in game one of their Western Conference playoff series.
The first half belonged to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers as the one-man show put up 28 points and had his team in front 48-39 at the break. Bryant scored 13 in the opening period and accounted for 15 of the Lakers 25 points in the second quarter before falling cold in the second half.
Phoenix stayed the course and allowed Bryant to do what he does while holding the rest of the Lakers in check.
It didn’t look like the Lakers would slow down as they opened the third quarter hitting their fist five shots, including a triple from Kobe to push their lead to 12 but the Suns didn’t falter. Stoudemire scored 12 in the period and Leandro Barbosa scored 10 of his team-high 26 in the quarter to bring Phoenix to within three after three, 77-74.
Barbosa then scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter for the Suns, and Phoenix grabbed a two point lead with 9:21 on the clock. Phoenix used a 9-2 spurt to boost their lead to eight and with Kobe hitting just 1-9 from the field in the fourth the Lakers were done. Bryant’s lone field-goal came with 1:42 left in the game to make it a four point game but those were the last points the Lakers would score.
Bryant finished with 39 points in the loss while Lamar Odom added 17 points and 16 rebounds.
The two teams will meet again on Tuesday for game two of their best of seven series.
