Suns 119, Lakers 99: Defeating Kobe Bryant, the defeated

Oct 29, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) reacts prior to the game against the Phoenix Suns during the home opener at US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

PHOENIX — It was understandable why the Lakers started their second game of the year looking defeated.

Twenty-four hours hadn’t passed since Los Angeles saw forward Julius Randle‘s season end because of a broken leg, and coach Byron Scott spent the majority of his pregame meeting with the media talking about losing his rookie and the other guy who is done for the year, former Suns star Steve Nash.

The season outlook only got more dire by the end of the game against the Phoenix Suns, who put together one of the more dramatic blowouts an NBA matchup could cook up.

The 119-99 Phoenix win included blood, Bryant and a three-ball count widely in favor of the Suns.

An aggressive start for coach Jeff Hornacek‘s team tore at an opponent that looked like it didn’t want to be there. That is, until Kobe Bryant awoke after his first breather to will the life into the Lakers. For the 36-year-old against one of his most-hated opponents, that was hardly enough.

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Phoenix’s 59-50 halftime lead was less than encouraging from the Suns’ perspective considering they had given up a double-digit lead, but the flood gates were under pressure and ready to open the entire time. In the third quarter, the Suns ratcheted up the aggressiveness and Bryant lost his cool as his Los Angeles crew failed in so many ways. A night after Bryant succeeded in getting Dwight Howard to react with an overaggressive attempt at stealing the ball, the same tactic failed when the Lakers guard got into Goran Dragic‘s grill.

Dragic hit 1-of-5 shots for six points in the first half, but Bryant’s tactics had unintended consequences this time around. Not only did Dragic not react with a swung elbow as Howard did before, he woke up, scoring 12 third quarter points as the Suns turned a nine-point lead into a 24-point blowout heading to the fourth. Before that happened, Bryant was assessed a technical, imploding on the defensive end by taking unrealistic risks trying to steal the ball. Then there was the chucking that wasn’t even representative of the old Kobe.

But on the Suns’ opening night, Bryant’s will only went so far. He played a big part in a pitiful defensive effort.

If this wasn’t Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, maybe even the hometown fans would feel sorry for the team out there. Riddled with injuries, lacking any defensive know-how and without any help, Bryant was left imploding before our eyes.

Suns fans could probably care less. These are the games Phoenix lost last season, a reason they were a win out of the playoff picture. It would be an overreation to say the blowout gave many indications about how good this team can be, but at the very least, the Suns looked like they understand the stakes.

The better brother: Markieff Morris will have his time, but it was brother Marcus’ opportunity to shine with P.J. Tucker sitting out his first game of three suspensions. He scored 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting. Yes, he took advantage of Los Angeles’ allergy to the three-point arc on defense, going 5-for-9 from deep. Marcus also was the best defender against a slower but still strong Bryant. Kobe finished with 31 points on 11-for-25 shooting.

The three-point allergy, in depth: Phoenix shoots a lot of threes. They also play pretty good three-point defense. So it was pretty easy to guess how that would play out against the Lakers, who during the preseason caught quite a bit of flak for not just shooting threes poorly but shooting so few at all. Maybe the bigger problem was in how poorly Los Angeles has defended threes to this point. By the end of the first quarter, the Suns led 33-19 and were shooting 6-for-13 from range – three of those bombs came from Marcus Morris. The Lakers took only one three in the first 12 minutes.

By the end of the night, the Suns shot 16-of-32 from three while holding Los Angeles to 4-of-13.

The Lakers show some spirit: Before exiting for the first time, Bryant halfheartedly acted like he was contesting a Bledsoe jumper, and when he retreated instead of closing out hard, a pump-fake and reload led to a swish in the first quarter. Los Angeles looked tired and defeated a night after watching rookie Julius Randle’s season end with a broken leg, but the Lakers finally found a little life in the first two minutes of the second quarter.

Against Isaiah Thomas, Archie Goodwin, Gerald Green, Anthony Tolliver and Miles Plumlee, the Lakers went on a 9-1 run. Wayne Ellington came out gunning in a return from a concussion and Bryant returned looking ticked off. Hornacek quickly went back to the starting unit and eventually away from Plumlee after the center fouled Bryant on a jumper and missed a wide open Anthony Tolliver on the wing before forcing a contested hook shot.

Could Len be sniffing a promotion?: Len wasn’t only the first sub off the bench who got a good deal of run with the four starters not named Plumlee. The second-year pro finished with three points, five rebounds and a block. His plus-minus was a positive-25 thanks to his time with the starters. Plumlee, who closed his night with some garbage minutes, finished with a positive-2, not a good sign considering every other starter had at least a positive-28.

Tensions flare: Bledsoe found himself in the locker room before the third quarter ended, and while he was injured to some degree, that wasn’t why he was back there. Bryant and Bledsoe got tied up going for a loose ball, and after the latter emerged with a bloody lip, he kicked the scorer’s table. With another technical earlier in the third quarter, he was gone to finish his evening with 16 points, nine assists — his connection with Miles Plumlee was exceptional — and six rebounds. The 25-point lead at the time of Bledsoe’s departure made it easy for the Suns to hang on, and the ejection led to Tyler Ennis’ first NBA action.

Good Isaiah, bad Isaiah: Thomas will take some heat for the second quarter offensive stalling, partially because of overdribbling, but he also produced 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting, which included five made threes.