Lakers beat Suns 122-115 * Lakers making a statement!

Now they have really proven to me how good they are this season. These Lakers are for real! The starters are great, the bench is great and the Lakers put icing on the cake to give all Laker fans a Merry, Merry Christmas.

It was the Lakers 8th year in a row playing on Christmas Day. I guess when you are a team that people want to see on Christmas Day the league is going to schedule you all the time. Unfortunately, the Lakers had a bad habit of losing on Christmas. The past five years to be exact but that all changed today as the Lakers beat the Suns 122-115 at the Staples Center.

The Lakers came out playing great from the start and are only one game behind the Suns for the Pacific Division lead. The Lakers are 18-10 and Phoenix is 19-9.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers in the game with 38 points. Andrew Bynum, who continues to impress more and more game after game had a career high 28 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Derek Fisher had 19 points, Odom had 15 points and 14 rebounds and Ariza had 14 points, some of them earning him a spot on the highlight film receiving some alley-oops form Kobe Bryant.

The game was filled with highlights. Not only from the Lakers but also from the Suns. On Friday the Lakers will play Utah then get Boston coming into the Staples Center on Sunday. OK, the Lakers make a big statement to the Suns and the league today but if they beat Boston on Sunday, I'm talking championship!

Steve Nash led the Suns with 24 points and 14 assist. Stoudemire had 19 point and 6 rebounds. Marion and Bell each had 15 and Grant Hill had 14.