Lakers Can’t Keep Pace

The Phoenix Suns did their thing, running up and down the court, flicking three-pointers toward the rim whenever humanly possible, and the Lakers did their best to hang before finally setting in the fourth quarter.

It was entertaining, as it usually is when the Suns are involved, but the Lakers suffered their second road loss in as many nights against a playoff team, which they still aren’t officially.

Kobe Bryant had 51 points and little help from anyone besides Lamar Odom in a 107-96 loss Friday at US Airways Center. Odom had 17 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Kwame Brown was quiet (four points in 17 minutes), the Laker bench was a total non-factor (six points on two-for-14 shooting) and there wasn’t much to be done about a fourth quarter owned by the Suns.

Making matters worse for the Lakers, Sacramento pulled into a tie with them for seventh in the Western Conference, and the Kings own the tiebreaker because of a significantly better divisional record. Ninth-place New Orleans/Oklahoma City trails them both by only two games.

To say the Lakers don’t match up well with the Suns is the understatement of the season in the Pacific Division, the Lakers now 0-3 against them this season and 0-7 since the Shaquille O’Neal trade.

The Lakers had lost their last six to the Suns by an average of 11.3 points, and then came Friday, a one-point Laker deficit after three quarters turning into a simple Sun victory, the Lakers unable to keep up with their blistering pace.

“Our matchups aren’t good right now,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “We don’t even have physical players that match up well against them.”

The Suns, possible first-round playoff opponents of the Lakers, if the Lakers qualify, had been 7-8 since March 9 and were running short on good fortune after All-Star center Amare Stoudemire underwent season-ending knee surgery on Wednesday.

But Steve Nash had 25 points and eight assists, and reserve guard Leandro Barbosa had 23 points, making four of six three-pointers. The Suns made 12 of 26 three-point attempts.

“You’re not going to beat them at their offensive ball,” Odom said. “As a team, we’ve got to make it a defensive game.”

It’s hard to do against a team that had been averaging a league-best 108.3 points, but the Lakers made a game of it in the third quarter. They trailed at halftime, 64-52, but took the third, for a change, pulling within 80-79 by the time the fourth quarter began. Bryant had 13 in the quarter, giving him 43 when the fourth began.

But the Suns took it from there, winning the quarter, 27-17, and leaving the Lakers looking ahead to their final five games, all at Staples Center.

“We have five games in a row at Staples Center, and I think this team will respond,” Jackson said.

Not everybody was convinced.

“We play like that, it won’t matter,” Odom said. “Can’t win a playoff game winning three quarters.”

The Lakers had other issues.

Bryant was hit with a technical foul, his 14th of the season, after protesting a blocking foul while defending Raja Bell with 1:31 left in the third quarter. If Bryant picks up a 16th technical foul, he will be suspended for a game.

Jackson ridiculed the call -- “I don’t understand the refereeing in this league if that’s going to be a technical foul,” he said -- and he was similarly disenchanted with what turned out to be a wasted effort by Bryant.

Bryant, who made 19 of 33 shots, set an arena record with his point total.

“You should be able to ride that ... and we weren’t able to do that,” Jackson said.

Bryant had 18 points in the first quarter on eight-for-12 shooting but the Lakers trailed, 31-27.