# Game 3 - [2] Phoenix Suns @ [7] Los Angeles Lakers [Suns lead 2-0] - 4/26; TNT



## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

*Playoff Watch: *


















*(Suns have been placed on ELEVATED)*

 *Suns Review *


> _In Game 2 of their first-round series with the Lakers on Tuesday, the Suns continued what they started in the fourth quarter of Game 1.
> Phoenix sizzled from the start, leading by as many as 32 points and cruising to a 126-98 win over L.A. and a 2-0 series lead.
> 
> Leandro Barbosa scored 26, Amare Stoudemire had 20 and nine rebounds, and Shawn Marion chipped in 18 and 10. But, as usual, it was Steve Nash who ran the Suns' show. The back-to-back MVP finished with 16 points and 14 assists.
> ...


*NBA.com's Suns-Lakers Series Page*

*Game 1: Suns 95, Lakers 87*
*Game 2: Suns 126, Lakers 98*

*Phoenix Suns Projected Lineup:*





































*(PG) Steve Nash (SG) Raja Bell (SF) James Jones (PF) Shawn Marion (C) Amare Stoudemire*

*Head Coach:*








*Mike D'Antoni*

*Los Angeles Lakers Projected Lineup: *





































*(PG) Jordan Farmar (SG) Kobe Bryant (SF) Luke Walton (PF) Lamar Odom (C) Kwame Brown*

*Head Coach:*








*Phil Jackson* 

*Sixth Man:*
















*(G) Leandro Barbosa vs (SG) Maurice Evans*​


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

*Game 2 Heroes:*

*Steve Nash 16 pts, 14 assists, 2-4 3pt in 24 minutes
Shawn Marion 7-18 FG, 18pts, 10 rebs, 4 assists, 2 stls
Amare Stoudemire 9-13FG, 20pts, 9 rebs, 1 stls, 4 blcks
Leandro Barbosa 11-22FG, 26pts, 4 rebs, 3 assists, 4-8 3 pt
*


*Game 2 Suckers:*

*James Jones 3-8FG, 12 pts in 30 minutes.
* 

*Key Run of the Night:*

_*Leading 28-25 with 44.6 seconds left in the first quarter, the Suns went on a 27-9 run to take a 55-34 lead with 4:50 to go in the first half. Suns guard STEVE NASH only played the final 1:08 of that stretch. 
*_​


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## Hyperion (Dec 5, 2006)

This series is quickly turning into Tyson-McNeeley all over again! Hugely hyped, horribly one-sided.


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## Carbo04 (Apr 15, 2005)

Let's go ahead and end this. Go Suns!


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Normally I would you guys good luck, but this time, I won't because your team doesn't need it.


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## Carbo04 (Apr 15, 2005)

Well, I'll wish your team good luck. I know it must be hard to watch as a Laker fan. They need to take notes from GS and play with that type emotion. Just controlled emotion.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

Hello, Laker forum.


:biggrin:


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## Aylwin (Jan 29, 2007)

Nash will be his usual self and get a double-double. Amare will continue to be a force on defense. If he doesn't get a double-double, Shawn will. LB will score at least 22. But the Lakers will bounce back and play a better game. Kobe will score at least 40. So it won't be a blowout but I think we'll still win.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Carbo04 said:


> Well, I'll wish your team good luck. I know it must be hard to watch as a Laker fan. They need to take notes from GS and play with that type emotion. Just controlled emotion.


I wish, man. We play with absolutely no heart at times. When things get tough, we don't try to play through it. We just fold in half and seemingly quit.


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## Helvius (Jul 4, 2006)

We're going to lose because there's way too much confidence.


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## Carbo04 (Apr 15, 2005)

Pathetic. Pathetic. Pathetic.

We had the Lakers down 17, and we let them come back. We had a chance to put our foots on their throats and we let them come back and gain alot of confidence.

The Lakers intensity and D was great.

Marion played like a piece of garbage. We couldn't offensive rebound to save our lives, and we just made way too many stupid fundamental mistakes.

Congrats Lakers. See you Sunday.


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## Sedd (Sep 1, 2003)

Meh. They thought the Lakers would lay down after the 1st and stop going to the bucket. 

Don't know what Diaw was doing out there.


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## Aylwin (Jan 29, 2007)

So who still thinks it's going to be easy? I knew the game would be like this but I thought we'd still find a way to win. Too bad we couldn't get it done down the stretch.


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## Helvius (Jul 4, 2006)

Looks like I called it.

Except maybe it was just a lack of caring. Stoudemire disappoints me. He could be so much more but he doesn't care; he's more worried about the refs than he is about putting a little more effort into boxing out and grabbing that offense board that's within his jumping reach.

If I was the Suns, I'd take a day off to look at what they want to do these playoffs. This is rather pathetic to see such a horrible loss. It wasn't even a graceful loss. It wasn't the stuff of an intense rivalry or two power-houses. It was a team underestimated playing 48 minutes against the Masters of Douche Baggery who decided that they'd finish the first quarter badly, instead of demoralizing the Lakers completely and taking them out of the game early.

It's this you can't blame on D'Antoni. You can't motivate people who have so much skill, who win so much, to play this game any better than that. It wasn't Phil Jackson who got the 5 to play with intensity between Games 2 and 3. It's like dealing with Stephen Marbury or someone who feels they can show up whenever (the old Iverson). It has to come within and here us poor fools who cheer them on, scream at our TV asking "What the ****, Diaw?", "What the ****, Bell?", "What the ****, Stoudemire?"

There's never a worse time to be a fan than when the team you invest 100 games a year and countless hours to doesn't even show up to a game that could mean everything two weeks from now when they're sweating their asses off against the Spurs or Nuggets. How can you even go to bed early when you want to find out what people are thinking? Are the Lakers on the move up now? Do they have a better chance?

The little respect the Suns garnered from playing 2 games which were respectable, instantly gone. In the blink of an eye and an errant pass by Nash with two minutes left, down by three points. Or perhaps an errant pass by Diaw. Or Bell. Or a foolish foul. Or a missed box out.

It always amazes me how someone can grab the ball from you when it's in your space. Did you expect a call, Stoudemire? Did you expect a call, Diaw, in Los Angeles where a team is down two and the fans and players are both intimidating. Did you expect anything? All one has to do is put their hands around it - spend a little time working on boxing out, and being able to judge where the ball will go...

See, that's another thing. You'd think a franchise with Charles Barkley as one of their legends would spend some time learning physics, trajectory and angles. So that they can judge where the ball can go. I do blame coaching for such a poor effort but if it was the sole factor, we'd have won by 20.

I think the biggest thing is that Nash willed this team on his back and carried them for the greatest amount of time where I was holding my breath, hoping the lead wouldn't go; hoping we'd stay tied; hoping they wouldn't be leading by more than 4... 6... 8... They played so horribly, that they took Steve Nash, Leandro Barbosa and anyone who was doing anything remotely positive, out of the game.

And the funny thing I wonder is if in that skull of Stoudemire's... does he even care? He didn't look like he cared.

And maybe he didn't.

I also thought Nash should've played the entire second half.

Oh well.

Nights like these suck to be even in the state of Arizona, much less a Suns fan.


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## Seuss (Aug 19, 2005)

What they said.......


Lets bounce back.


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## The One (Jul 10, 2005)

Carbo04 said:


> Congrats Lakers. See you Sunday.


We'll be there


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## Bartholomew Hunt (Mar 4, 2003)

How about playing like garbage for just one more game?  You know, for ratings sake!


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## Eternal (Sep 7, 2005)

Bartholomew Hunt said:


> How about playing like garbage for just one more game?  You know, for ratings sake!


Agreed. :clap2:


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## Carbo04 (Apr 15, 2005)

I'd rather us not, lol. No offense, but we need you guys to be put away as soon as possible. We got either denver, or more likely SA to rest up for.


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## Jammin (Jul 3, 2005)

I don't like how we let Kwame have a big game. Dudes had like 5 big games in his 4 years career, and one fo them is against us. It's brutal

We sucked it up big time.

If we don't get game 4, I don't know whats in the future for us.


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