8:59 - My first (and likely not last) random observation of the game: PA announcer Lawrence Tanter makes anything sound vaguely pronographic. 

7:57 - I realize Kwame isn't going to provide inside scoring the way Drew did, but good Lord man, if you have an uncontested dunk, take it.  Were I Phil Jackson, I'd fine him every time he attempts a layup.  Even during the pregame layup drill.  The fans apparently agree with me, because Brown is hearing it from the Staples boo birds.

6:48 - Luke talks a while setting up in the paint, which leads to my lack of suprise when The Matrix swats his floater attempt.

4:41 - Fish launches the long jumper, which falls wide right.  But LO grabs the loose ball and scores the putback, a formula for winning tonight on two counts.  First, everyone besides Kobe needs to be getting into the scoring act.  Two, the Lakers need to pick up their rebounding in a big way if they want to win this one.  In the first Bynum-less game, the Sonics outglassed them in a big way.  And if they either allow the Suns second chance points or loose balls converted into fast breaks, it's gonna be a long night for the Purple and Gold.

4:07 - On a somewhat questionable whistle (pretty minimal body contact at best instigated), Kwame picks up an offensive foul, his second personal of the game.  Adding insult to injury, Turiaf gets more than just the standard "let's give our guy a hand" greeting from the crowd upon replacing #54.

2:07 - Kobe snatches the pass from Brian Skinner to Marion, then streaks downcourt and puts the reverse layup in nice and purty-like.  Now, this guy, I got no problem attempting a layup.

26.6 - Terrific teamwork by Kobe and Ronny.  After Bryant fights through a double team and passes off to Turiaf about 20 feet out, he immediately cuts towards the basket, receiving the rocket touch pass from Ronny.  Kobe draws the foul, then sinks two freebies.  Beautfiul ball.

.8 - It ain't quite ".4," but Farmar's trey ball with double that on the clock brings the Lakers  back within three.  It also works to bring back some spirit to this crowd, which was growing somewhere between "crestfallen" and "downright hostile." 

First Quarter ends: Phoenix 27, Lakers 24.  The frame spent much time looking nothing short of "hairy," but a 6-0 L.A. run put the Lakers right back in the swing of things.  Perhaps they're feeling a bit more in sorts, because heading up to that run, the proverbial wheels appeared off the rails.  BK will guide from here.

SECOND QUARTER

Lakers start with LO on the bench, Kwame back in, and Ronny moving to PF.  Kobe, Farmar, and Ariza on the floor with them.  A couple early TOs, but Phoenix hasn't been able to capitalize too much.

9:55- Suns 31, Lakers 25 (and another TO, as Farmar skids on the floor and travels).  The game is still reasonably, close, but if you want to compare who is getting the easier, cleaner looks, it's definitely Phoenix.  The Lakers have had, especially in the half court, a really tough time generating clean looks.  Not that surprising, considering in a lot of ways they're running what can be almost called an entirely different offense. 

The results aren't there yet, but I like at least that guys are looking for their shot and trying to generate looks, and Kobe isn't forcing anything.  They're going to have to stick with it, even if the near-term results are a little wonky.

Timeout on the floor, Lakers down by eight, with the ball.  They're trying to push the ball inside, but too much of it is coming off one on one dribble penetration.  They have to move and cut, and let the ball do the work.  Lack of defense stretching outside shooting isn't helping, either.

8:05- Nash back in for PHoenix.  That they managed to stretch the lead with him on the bench is a good sign for him.  But Ronny eats into that with a nice little post move on the low block, droppign the baby hook over Brian Skinner and picking up the and-one in the process. 

He misses the FT, and it's still an eight point -- wait, ten point lead for Phoenix, as Diaw hits an open J.

6:06- Critter drives, but draws a three second violation on his teammates b/c they were expecting a shot from the outside when he was open.  Nice that he attacked the rack (recognizing that outside shooting isn't his strength, and looking for a better shot) but sometimes you have to take the open J, if only because you're so wide open that everyone has turned around to look for a board. 

With half the period gone, the Lakers are stuck on four points.  I don't need to tell you how struggling on that end can hurt against a team like Phoenix.  42-28 Suns.

5:15- Consecutive good plays from 54, making a nice move on the post against Stoudamire, then finishing with the left, then poking the ball away from Barbosa when the little fella scooted through the lane for a layup attempt. 

LO makes two solid plays on the offensive glass for a couple buckets, and LA is down by 11. 

4:14- LO takes  anice feed from Fish and draws the foul.  Again, going to the hole and being aggressive.  He's so much better down there than he is on the perimeter.  The latter neds to set up the former. 

3:15- Smart play by Kwame to get out of the way on a Stoudamire layup.  He briefly thought he had position, but didn't, and had he tried to draw the charge, he'd have picked up his third in what would have almost certainly been an and-one situation.  Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.

2:09- Lakers looking to make a little run.  LO hits Kwame on a  drive and dish for an easy bucket, then they draw a charge on Diaw...

...then Amare beats 54 down the court for a big ol' dunk to push the Phoenix lead back to 13.   Fish turns the ball over with an offensive foul.  That's their tenth TO of the half.  You can't help out a team like Phoenix like that. 

Bad play by Kwame, who took a hoop away from LO with basket interference.  That would have gone in, without the help from Brown.

:3.4- Nice play by Fish to give the foul on Nash.  Otherwise, he's probably looking at an easy two.  They're trying to put pressure on him away from the basket.  Sometimes it works, but he's so calm under pressure, he can usually dribble then feed his way out.

Wow.  That play to Marion off the inbound hurt. 

HALFTIME:

With the Marion dunk, it's Phoenix 56, LA 43.  Considering how awful the Lakers have been offensively (11 TOs, 31.9% from the floor) it's actually pretty impressive the game hasn't gotten further away from them.  They're just not generating any clean looks, and they're doing Phoenix a lot of favors by handing them the ball.  Kobe and LO have made some plays... and that's about it. 

Hopefully they'll draw something up at the half.

THIRD QUARTER

10:56 - LO drives the lane, shakes and bakes, then goes strong to the hole for the lefty layup.  With 13/7 (and counting) racked on his stat line, Lamar's basically the only starter not named "Kobe" or "Bryant" bringing much to the table.

9:38 - LO grabs his own miss, shuttles the ball to Kwame, who bricks the uncontested dunk.  Ball goes flying. The next possession, Kwame turns the ball over after nearly immediately after hearing boos upon touching the ball.  One minute later, Kwame blows a layup and the razzing comes harder.  I feel horrible for Kwame, truth be told.  He's playing lousy, but truth be told, he's getting these boos in part because Bynum got hurt, which is hardly Kwame's fault.  And it's pretty classless of the crowd to boo their own guy for essentially having an off-night.  Not to revisit an old argument, but I'm not digging it.  The fans have a right, obviously, but I don't agree with the choice.

Were I Phil, I think he needs to take Kwame out, even for a few minutes to hopefully let this subside.  or even if it can't subside, let the rest of the team get their bearings back.  I actually think the treatment Kwame's receiving is getting to them out there.

By the way, the "steal" by Marion on Walton (7:23): All wrist.  We're right behind that bucket and could hear it clear as day.

5:58 - That steal, however, by Marion on Walton: Clean as a White House bathroom (I'm speculating, but it's hard to believe those are dirty).  Tough game for Walton, who's taken out during the next dead ball for Ariza.  He's trying to post up and avoid simply jacking long balls, but Marion's just too much for him.

3:50 - Kwame picks up his fifth with some body contact against Amare, then takes a place on the pine.  Ronny reenters the game to the same "it's not about you entering, it's about him leaving" cheer from the crowd.  A dude behind me actually yelled, "one more, Kwame," relaying wishes for Brown to foul out.  I did like seeing Ronny giving Kwame an enthusiastic pat on the way back to the bench, plus the high fives he received from the rest of his teammates.  I'm sure they all know he's playing pretty lousy, but this has got to be horrible for them to watch.

2:35 - Sasha reenters the game, which is a nice sight and surprise.  I actually didn't think he'd be available to go.

1:45 - Kobe's three ball cuts the lead down to 17.  If they can maybe snag one more score and prevent Phoenix from doing the same, then maybe a little bit of mo can build their way heading into the fourth.  Of course, Barbosa's sinking two at the stripe, so half of that equation is out the window.  I'll just root for another score.

2.0 - Sasha does the quite possibly the best job I've ever seen of him driving to the hole with purpose and without hesitation, shuttling the ball off to Turiaf at the last second.  Ronny gets his layup blocked, but I did like seeing Vujacic go inside with a manner not resembling a headless chicken. 

END OF THE THIRD: Phoenix 79, Lakers 61.  This one done getting ugly, kids.  Absolutely no ball movement.  Absoilutely too much over dribbling.  And very few balls hitting nylon.  While 33% percent from the field sadly represents an uptick from the half, it ain't enough to get it done.  Something needs to give.  BK with the fourth will witness it.   

FOURTH QUARTER:

The Lakers have started the period with a lot of energy, on 5-0 run with a chance to add more.  And they get it, as Sasha buries his second three of the quarter.  That brings the fans to their feet, as the Lakers have cut the Phoenix lead to 10.  Timeout, Phoenix.

10:07- A couple bombs from Sasha could help create a little more space for people to operate on the floor.  Phoenix has been packing the lane all night, and forcing the Lakers to come and work in traffic down there.  But down by 10 with 10 to play, there's still time to make a game of it. 

9:02- Farmar dribbles into the corner, then picks it up and gets trapped.  Forced TO, and Ronny ends up picking up a foul in the process.  Diaw hits a jumper on the other end, and the lead is back to 12, 83-71.  Nice little run with Kobe getting some rest on the bench. 

8:10- Farmar makes up for it with a great take to the hole.  The Lakers are operating in a little more space right now, and the effects have been good. 

7:00- Great little give and go from LO in the high post to Farmar cutting to the hoop.  That's how they have to get the ball to the rack.  Player and ball movement.  Farmar hits a triple, and the lead is down to nine.

3:57- Timeout on the floor, Lakers down 96-83.  It's probably too late to make a game winning run, but the play in the fourth has been much more encouraging than anything we saw earlier.  Sasha has come and given them a big lift, spreading the floor and giving the Lakers more room to operate.  LO has hit the boards hard (he's been there all night) and they're actually running something that looks like an offense.

Defensively, they just can't get enough stops, but in fairness, when you're down big to Phoenix with one quarter to make it up, it forces a pace that makes it hard to shut them down completely.  Whether it's too little too late or not, at the very least a strong fourth gives them something to build on. 

Currently, they're running real small, which is something they can do against a team like Phoenix, especially with Amare on the bench. 

3:27- Farmar hits a three, and the PHX lead is back to 10.

1:03- Lakers cut the lead down to eight.  They need stops, and get one as Sasha gets the steal, and LO works hard on the glass to clean up after Skinner blocked the Sasha layup.  Odom couldn't believe it took that ong to get the whistle, and from here, he had a lot to complain about.  From minute one, the refs have allowed this one to get extremely physical.  Drawing a whistle has been no easy task.  Phoenix by six.

:24- Diaw drills a jumper to put Phoenix head by eight.  That's probably enough to finish off the Lakers, but they have a lot to take away from this game after a strong fourth quarter.  It's awfully hard to clamp down enough on PHX to come back from that sort of deficit in 12 minutes, they showed a lot in the quarter.

:18.4- Sasha hits the runner in the lane, and then Farmar fouls to send Nash to the line.  Lakers down by six... seven... eight.

FINAL SCORE: Phoenix 106, LAL 98.  If you had told me the Lakers would have made a game of it late say, an hour ago, I'd have thought you were drinkin' the funny juice.  But LA found a combination that worked for them late.  I don't want to gloss over all the things that went wrong early- there's still a lot of work to do... a LOT of work to do- but for the time being, I'll focus on the positive momentum of the fourth quarter.  LA found a way to get some space, and played some good basketball. 

Nice games for Sasha, who was a massive lift for the team, LO, who worked incredibly hard all night (19 boards, 13 on the offensive end).  Kobe finishes with 30. 

Plenty more to come.  But overall, I think fans will sleep a lot better now than they would have had things continued the way they had been going.

BK