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4/22 - US AIRWAYS CENTER - PHOENIX. The Lakers had a great first half, survived in the third quarter and then melted down in the fourth. The final result: the Suns won the first game of the series 95-87.

The first half was almost perfect for Los Angeles, with Phoenix missing from everywhere, Kobe Bryant making shots from everywhere, an excellent defensive effort and the rookie point guard (Jordan Farmar) doing a more than decent job against Steve Nash.

Kobe was on fire, scoring the Lakers' final 15 of the half. Everybody was in shock in Phoenix with the 48-39 score.

After that, the Lakers defense disappeared and although Kobe's 3 pointer gave them a 57-45 lead with 9:47 left in the third, the Suns scored 35 points in the period. The Lakers still were enjoying a 3-point lead at the end but finally came a torturous 4th quarter where Kobe was horrendous taking almost every shot and missing almost all of them (1-for-10 from the field) The Lakers couldn't do anything against Leandro Barbosa' speed and was outscored 21-10.

Smush Parker, relegated from his starting role two games ago, played only 10 minutes, had 0 points and a couple of key mistakes in the worst moment for his team.

The Quotes

Phil Jackson (LAL coach): "You lost a ball game. Nothing slipped away when you lose a game like that, what we do know is that we can play with this ballclub, and we have the energy to contain them for a full game. They played a 48-minute game and we played a 36-minute game."... "Kobe ran out of gas in the fourth quarter. Their defense did a great job against our offense, and we couldn't find a way to get on track."

Smush Parker (LAL): "They did everything in the book to give this game away, and we didn't take advantage of it."

Kobe Bryant (LAL): "I was fine, we didn't execute like we did in the first half. So, as a consequence, my touches became a lot harder."

Highlights