The reasons of Lakers' victory

Los Angeles Lakers got a 99-93 victory against Phoenix Suns, but there was a time in the game where their 17-point lead got shredded and their nerves were almost frayed. Thanks again to Kobe Bryant and a great team effort, the Lakers ultimately ran away from the Suns to even their best-of-seven series at 1-1.

Reports say that Bryant was very questioned after an unusually quiet Game 1, and he answered marking 29 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and made 12 of 24 shots. Lamar Odom provided another strong effort, scoring 21 points on 9-for-12 shooting.

It's important to mention that game 3 is tonight at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Sun guard Steve Nash was more error-prone than usual, totaling 29 points and nine assists but also six turnovers. We must say though, that Shawn Marion had 13 points on 5-for-15 shooting. Tim Thomas, who had 22 points in Game 1, was limited to 11.

"I thought defensively it was our night," Lakers coach Phil Jackson stated. ''I thought that was the best thing."

But it was also Bryant. In Game 1, he scored 22 points on 7-for-21 shooting and was labeled passive, in a politically correct way, by pretty much everybody who mattered on the Suns.

He enhanced his power in Game 2, fighting through double teams, again finding open teammates and, this time, performing open shots.

"I felt much more comfortable," Bryant said about the second game. "I feel like we did a much better job. Everybody contributed . . . We moved the ball, we played perfect defensively as a team, we played great offensively as a team."

Suns against Lakers in the playoffs

Los Angeles Lakers are back into the playoffs. And the first team on their road to the title is the powerful Phoenix Suns. Los Angeles trust in the best scorer of this season: Kobe Bryant.

The Lakers crushed the Hornets, 115-95, on Wednesday night at Staples Center. That gave the Lakers the seventh seed in the West, which brings the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs' first round. That best-of-7 series begins at 12:30 p.m. PDT on Sunday in Phoenix.

Despite the 45-37 Lakers are the losingest team Phil Jackson has ever coached, he looked ahead to the possibility of advancing past 54-28 Phoenix and advancing again past Denver or the Clippers in Round 2.

On Wednesday, the Bryant team secured home-court advantage over Denver in a possible playoff matchup for the right to reach the West finals. If the Lakers met the Clippers in Round 2, obviously all the matches would be at home.

"That bracket is probably the best bracket to advance," Jackson admitted.

Previewing the Lakers-Suns series, Hornets coach Byron Scott claims: "If the Lakers play their style of basketball and their tempo - and when you have No. 8 (Kobe Bryant) out there, you can win any series - they definitely have big chance."

The Lakers must get a victory over the Hornets to avoid dropping to the eighth seed and drawing defending NBA champion San Antonio in the first round. The Lakers got it easily after Kwame Brown scored 10 of their first 22 points and then Bryant took over, living up to the "81" that Nike inscribed on the insole of his sneakers.

Kobe Bryant expressed himself: "It feels good to be mentioned among the elite players who have ever played the game,". Indeed, his final scoring average was 35.4 points, eighth-highest in league history.

It's important to notice that Jackson said he'd likely bring the team back from Phoenix after playing Sunday to practice at home Monday and Tuesday just before Game 2 on Wednesday night in Phoenix.

Suns melted Kobe's huge effort

Just like in many other matches, Kobe Bryant produced an amazing number of points for the Lakers. In fact, he scored 51, in front of a very solid defence. But this time that wasn't enough to win. The Phoenix Suns beat Los Angeles Lakers 107-96.

Steve Nash scored all 25 of his points in the first three quarters and Leandro Barbosa added 23 off the bench to enhance the Suns and win.

It's fair to say that Phoenix used a balanced attack to offset another dominant night by Bryant, who made 19-of-33 shots to get his 51 points.

Actually, it was his fifth 50-point outing this season and his fourth consecutive game over 40. But with seven players in double figures, Phoenix reached 50 wins for the second straight season and the 16th time in franchise history.

The loss Friday, coupled with Sacramento's 96-93 victory over the Clippers, dropped the L.A. Lakers and Kings into a tie for the Western Conference's bottom two playoff spots at 40-37.

As we said before, with the squads having split their season series, the Lakers would be seeded eighth by virtue of the Kings having the better division record. Sacramento is 10-5 in the Pacific; the Lakers are 6-7.

At least the Lakers can take comfort with a schedule that has them playing their final five encounters at Staples Center. Then again, the Lakers also are only two matches ahead of the ninth-place Hornets.

Bryant 43 points help Lakers win

Despite all the problems he found in the game, Kobe Bryant managed to show another high scoring solo to help the Lakers win over the Sonics 106-93 at Key Arena.

He proved he is still one of the best players in the NBA, scoring 43 points in this game. 14 of them were made in the third quarter. After the match, he had many things to say.

"I just continued to attack," Bryant commented. "Fouls or no fouls, I just wanted to be aggressive."

We must remember that it was Bryant's 22nd 40-point game this season, one shy of Elgin Baylor's franchise record from 1962-63, and came as the Lakers bounced back from Thursday's loss to San Antonio with a much-needed win.

Los Angeles Lakers have won five of their last six encounters and stayed 1 games in front of Sacramento for seventh in the Western Conference standings.

Kobe claimed outloud: "When we have losses, we don't want them coming in bunches."

Seattle got within 89-83 with 7:20 remaining after Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis hit consecutive 3-pointers. However, Devean George made a basket from the arc, Bryant scored six straight points and Luke Walton hit a layup for a 100-87 edge with 2:15 to go.