The Machine went back in time and rediscovered a bit of his lost swagger and while he did not necessarily blow up the stat sheet, Sasha played a vital 12 minutes by negating Goran Dragic’s impact. Perhaps, Phil Jackson has found his defensive wild card for the rest of this series, however long it goes.
Lamar Odom reemerged through the wave of criticism he endured over the week with a strong outing, notching 17 points and tearing down 13 boards. He also shot 7 of 11 from the field and looked much sharper on defense, consistently making the right rotation to protect the paint. The only glaring deficiency was his allotment of so much airspace to Channing Frye who went 3 of 8 from three-point range.
Andrew Bynum showed up big with four blocks, two of them on Robin Lopez whose play became increasingly dispirited as he made one bad play after another. Drew may have only played 19 minutes, but the concentration and effort that he put forth last night on his bum knee was quite admirable and if he can play with that kind of gusto for the rest of the playoffs, the Lakers will undoubtedly be in strong contention to repeat.
We can’t forget Pau Gasol who played 41 hard minutes, scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds. His contribution may not have been explicitly apparent throughout the game, but I have to say that he bounced back strong from a poor showing in Game 4 and did his best to battle through the frustrating zone defense employed by the Suns – through which he appears to suffer the most.
As much as we can talk about the 18-5 advantage in second chance points the Lakers had and the 23 points off the 15 Suns turnovers, this game was won through will and attrition. In a game during which Alvin Gentry could barely keep his lunch down, our team gutted out a victory that has the city of L.A. at the doorstep of hosting yet another, NBA Finals.
If there’s anything to be learned through five games, it’s that the Phoenix Suns are not going to retreat or forfeit an inch. If they can roar back from down 18 on the road in a building where the Lakers are now 28-0 in the last three postseasons, anything is possible. Our ticket to the championship round will be earned, make no mistakes about it.
That’s how it should be. Game 6, Saturday.
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