2010 NBA Playoffs: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns, Western Conference Finals, Game 1

Information about game 1 of the L.A. Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns series in the 2010 NBA Playoffs, with score, recap, pictures, stats, highlights, quotes and Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol performance.

Los Angeles Lakers

2010 NBA Playoffs Western Conference Finals
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns

Phoenix Suns

Series Index:

Game 1: Lakers 128, Suns 107 at Los Angeles Game recap & pictures
Game 2: Lakers 124, Suns 112 at Los Angeles   Game recap & pictures
Game 3: Suns 118, Lakers 109 at Phoenix   Game recap & pictures
Game 4: Suns 115, Lakers 106 at Phoenix   Game recap & pictures
Game 5: Lakers 103, Suns 101 at Los Angeles   Game recap & pictures
Game 6: Lakers 111, Suns 103 at Phoenix   Game recap & pictures

Back to Playoffs 2010

Los Angeles Lakers 1 - 0 Phoenix Suns

GAME 1: L.A. Lakers 128 - Phoenix Suns 107

Leaders Points Rebounds Assists
Lakers Bryant: 40 Odom: 19 4 players: 5
Suns Stoudemire: 23 3 players: 6 Nash: 13
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Tot
LAL 35 27 31 35 128
PHO 26 29 24 28 107
click for Lakers 2010 Playoff pictures (LA Daily News), Western Conference Finals vs. Phoenix Suns Game 1
Picture Gallery (LAT)

May 17 - Staples Center, Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant had a fantastic night, scoring from everywhere to lead the Lakers to their first victory in the Western Conference Finals, a 128-107 win over the Phoenix Suns.

Despite a knee that kept him out of the Lakers practices in the last week Kobe had 40 points in 35 minutes, shooting 13-for-23 (.565) and using almost all his repertory. He scored 21 of his points in the third quarter and went to the bench for good with 9 minutes left and the game already decided.

The Suns took and early 11-6 lead but after that everything went downhill for Phoenix. Lamar Odom entered the game and scored 7 points to put L.A. ahead for the first time with 3:25 left in the first quarter and the Suns could never catch them again. And it was just a free sample of what Odom would give to his team. In his best game of this 2010 playoffs Odom was aggressive and focused and ended with 19 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, including 7 on the offensive end. Pau Gasol added 21 points and 5 assists.

The Suns advantages are supposed to be their speed and uptempo game that allow them to score a lot of points and their 3-point accuracy but the Lakers played very good defense and they were the team running to score 128. Amare Stoudemire scored 23 points and Steve Nash had 13 points and 13 assists but the Suns missed 17 of 22 three-point attempts, while the Lakers made 47.1% (8-for-17). As expected L.A. had the edge inside and outrebounded Phoenix 42-34. The Suns defense of the paint was at moments pathetically bad, with slow rotations or none at all.

Andrew Bynum, who is also playing with an injured knee, had 4 points in just 19 minutes while Sasha Vujacic saw action for the first time in these playoffs after missing the first two rounds with a sprained ankle. The Machine was the only Laker that didn't score in a game in which the bench provided 44 points.

The Quotes

Phil Jackson (LAL Coach): "Kobe had an outstanding game, Pau (Gasol) played a fine game and so did Lamar (Odom)."

Lamar Odom (Lakers): "He's the best scorer in the league. Drives, fadeaways with his back to the basket, inside-outside, with his left hand. Time off is exactly what he needed

Steve Nash (Suns): "They're probably going to continue to be taller than us as the series goes on, so we've got to ... make everything as tough as possible. We played hard, but we didn't make enough shots, and we had a few too many breakdowns.". About Bryant: "I don't think we sent him to the line a lot. I don't think we let him inside a lot, but still he scored a ton.

Alvin Gentry (Suns Coach): "They played great, one of the best games I've seen them play in the playoffs this season. Kobe kind of controlled the whole game. I thought we could have withstood the game that he had ... but when he's making his jumper like that, there's not a whole lot you can do about it."

Highlights

Los Angeles Lakers Phoenix Suns
Leaders: Pts Reb Ast St Bl More
Kobe Bryant 40 5 5 1 -  
Pau Gasol 21 4 5 - 2  
Lamar Odom 19 19 3 1 -  
Ron Artest 14 5 5 2 1  
Jordan Farmar 10 - 5 1 -  
Leaders: Pts Reb Ast St Bl More
A. Stoudemire 23 3 2 1 1  
Jason Richardson 15 6 3 1 -  
Robin Lopez 14 6 - - 1  
Steve Nash 13 4 13 - -  
Goran Dragic 13 3 2 - -  

Complete Boxscore

PHOENIX SUNS
Starters Min FG 3P FT Off Def Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF +/- Pts 
Grant Hill, SF 22 1-5 0-0 5-6 0 1 1 3 1 0 1 4 -2 7
Amare Stoudemire, PF 35 8-13 0-0 7-10 1 2 3 2 1 1 1 2 -23 23
Robin Lopez, C 24 6-7 0-0 2-2 2 4 6 0 0 1 0 2 +2 14
Steve Nash, PG 28 5-10 0-2 3-3 0 4 4 13 0 0 4 2 -13 13
Jason Richardson, SG 37 6-12 3-6 0-2 1 5 6 3 1 0 0 3 -24 15
Bench Min FG 3P FT Off Def Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF +/- Pts 
Channing Frye, C 20 1-8 1-7 0-0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 2 -13 3
Leandro Barbosa, SG 17 5-7 0-1 1-1 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 -6 11
Louis Amundson, C 18 1-4 0-0 1-2 4 2 6 0 1 1 0 1 -8 3
Jared Dudley, SF 19 1-5 1-5 2-2 1 3 4 0 1 0 2 4 -11 5
Goran Dragic, PG 20 5-8 0-1 3-4 1 2 3 2 0 0 1 2 -7 13
Jarron Collins, C DNP COACH'S DECISION
Earl Clark, F DNP COACH'S DECISION
Totals 39-79 5-22 24-32 10 24 34 25 6 3 11 23   107
Percentages: 49.4% 22.7% 75.0%
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Starters Min FG 3P FT Off Def Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF +/- Pts 
Ron Artest, SF 40 6-14 1-5 1-2 0 5 5 5 2 1 0 0 +12 14
Pau Gasol, PF 37 10-13 0-0 1-1 1 3 4 5 0 2 1 2 +23 21
Andrew Bynum, C 19 2-4 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 0 0 0 2 1 0 4
Kobe Bryant, SG 35 13-23 3-6 11-12 0 5 5 5 1 0 2 1 +22 40
Derek Fisher, PG 29 1-3 0-0 3-4 1 1 2 1 2 0 0 3 +17 5
Bench Min FG 3P FT Off Def Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF +/- Pts 
Lamar Odom, PF 31 9-15 1-2 0-0 7 12 19 3 1 0 1 3 +24 19
Josh Powell, C 4 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 -3 2
Luke Walton, SF 3 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 -1 2
Shannon Brown, PG 18 3-6 1-1 2-3 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 3 +6 9
Sasha Vujacic, SG 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
D.J. Mbenga, C 4 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 -3 2
Jordan Farmar, PG 19 4-6 2-3 0-0 0 0 0 5 1 0 2 5 +8 10
Totals 51-88 8-17 18-22 12 30 42 26 8 3 9 21   128
Percentages:   58.0% 47.1% 81.8%

Back to 2010 Playoffs