Lakers 119 - Suns 98

And folks, it wasn't even that close. FEELIN' YOU!

So proud of my boys for last night's insane performance on the road, sans Lamar. Watched all 48 minutes and was elated through just about all of it. They worked it with four point guards, even! Quite easily my favorite Laker game since Kobe's OT buzzer-beater in game 4 of the 2006 first round against Phoenix. Vlad Radmanovic for MVP! What a difference not having Smush Parker makes.

And now, an exchange between Suns fanatic Brent and Laker honk Alan...

Brent:
Sorry I didn't respond to your series of taunting texts. I passed out from lack of sleep at about 10 o'clock.

Anyway, the Suns seem to have a chronic early-season problem. It has happened the last three years (remember they went 1-5 to start the year last year, and lost their first game against the Lakers when they didn't have Kobe). That interior defense is atrocious, and if they think Boris Diaw and Brian Skinner are going to keep them guys out of the paint and keep them in games on the defensive glass, they are going to have a long season.

Also, Grant Hill needs to stop taking threes. His ranger is 19-feet and in. Mike D'Antoni was pissed at Phil Jackson for calling that timeout in the fourth quarter (he yelled at Phil, "It's alright, we have three more games.". Phil then told D'Antoni to "shut the fuck up." In the press conference afterwards, D'Antoni said, "I thought he disrespected our players, but he likes to play the mind games. That's fine. He might want to try to do it in playoff time when we bust them every time."

Always good to see the flames stoked in a rivalry. I guess the chemistry issues need to work themselves out over the course of the first month of the season, but Hill should be coming off the bench.

One thing I've seen that I really like: Boris has a 17-foot jumper. Other than that, Amare's interior D still isn't very good, Raja and LB are recovering from injuries that prevent them from shooting well (LB 0-for-4 from the FT line- injured ribs; Raja 3-for-17 in two games- tendinitis in ankle), and for some inexplicable reason, Marcus Banks is getting playing time in the first quarter (I'd rather see DJ Strawberry out there).

An early ass-kicking is a good thing. Wake up, people! It's no longer the preseason.

Alan:
Yeah, I still can't over how much we owned the interior. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE PLAY DEFENSE!! Lack of defensive consistency has killed this team the last couple seasons, but last night? Wow. All I could think was, "Where the fuck is Amare?" And the announcers felt the same. All 12 Lakers got playing time and contributed... by halftime. This was one of those odd games where our bench was actually clicking on all cylinders. If only 2 guys a night -- say Radmanovic and Bynum or any such combo -- were hitting, this'd be a very solid team. But to have everyone on fire? Our shooting was unbelievable which points to some slop perimeter D from the Suns (you mentioned Raja and LB being hurt) which Screamin' A. Smith was crowing about at halftime . No Odom either, which probably was a good thing in this instance (everyone knowing they had to pick up the slack).

The Phil-D'Antoni spat amuses me. Given, the game was completely in hand when that TO was called, but I think the average age of the Lakers on the floor at the time was something like 21. They still need coaching, teaching, discipline. D'Antoni came off as a baby, really, because we all know Phil is into teaching the kids for future occassions.

Most importantly, I think Kobe came away from last night feeling a little less dejected about his predicament. Very interested to see how this unexpected whoopin' affects their intensity on Sunday against Utah.