Los Angeles, Ca

At Staples center on Thursday night, not even Shaq could help stop Kobe Bryant's Lakers walk right over the Phoenix Suns. Without All-Stars Steve Nash (ankle, day to day) and Amar'e Stoudemire (eye surgery, 8 weeks) to start the game, the Suns never really had a chance. There were just four lead changes in the game, all coming in the first quarter. The Lakers ended that quarter on a 22-6 run and never looked back, cruising to a 132-106 victory. Things have been going well for the Lakers as of late, winning six straight and 13 of their last 14 games. The Lakers scored 132 points tonight tying their season best and did it with a season high 38 assists in the game. It is easy to say the Lakers are the class of the league at this point and should definitely be considered favorites out of the West to make it back to the Finals this year. 

The shorthanded Suns scored right at their average, 106 in tonight's loss and remain in the ninth spot in the Western conference. For Phoenix the problem obviously isn't offense. Leandro Barbosa, the Brazilian Blur, and Alando Tucker led the team with 18 apiece in the absence of Steve Nash. The Suns need to focus now on defense to get over that hump and into the post season. They have enough time to crawl back into the playoff picture at this point but really need to figure some things out. Under interim coach Alvin Gentry the Suns are now 4-2. Come Sunday, the Suns have a chance to salvage something against the Lakers. Los Angeles leads the season series 3-0 right now. Sunday is the final regular season meeting of the teams.

Kobe did what he needed to get his team going early. He made his presence felt scoring 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting in the first frame. After that not much more was needed from him alone. Kobe switched to a facilitator role with 8 assists and only nine points the remainder of the game. The best playing Laker as of late, Lamar Odom lead the team with 23 points and nine boards. Odom has 129 rebounds over his last 9 games, the best such stretch of his career. The 48-10 Lakers head to Denver to take on the now Chauncey Billups led Nuggets.