Lakers 130 - Suns 124

It was a game everyone was looking forward to tonight. The Pacific division rivalry between the Lakers and the Suns, Kobe VS Shaq, it was definitely a playoff atmosphere. The Lakers ended up showing everyone who the best in the West is with their 130-124 victory over the Phoenix Suns tonight. The Lakers had to give their best tonight and they have now won the season series 3-1 against Phoenix which can be crucial if the teams end up in tie for the best record in the Pacific at seasons end. With the win, the Lakers are now tied for first place with the Suns for first place in the Pacific. Actually, the Lakers are on top of the West over Phoenix because they have won the season series, see how that works.

The Suns gave their all tonight and played as good as they could play, the problem was that they played a better team. The Suns are not used of playing with a team that can score with them or run with them, they sure met them tonight. Amare Stoudemire went crazy tonight taking advantage of team-mate Shaquille O'Neal and moved to his natural power forward position. He scored 37 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Steve Nash become more of a scorer tonight and tried all he could do to keep his Suns in the game, he scored 26 points and dished out 8 assist. Barbosa and Grant Hill each had 17 points and Shaquille O'Neal in his Phoenix Suns debut had a decent game, scoring 15 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in 29 minutes. Shaq's first Phoenix Suns points came from a monster dunk that got the Phoenix Suns fans excited. Shaq looked really good and may have surprised some by how good he looked in his first game in about a month. On one occasion Shaq went chasing a loose ball and fumbled onto a referee, he got a giant ovation from the crowd for his great effort. Shaq's team-mate Raja Bell got a big elbow to the back of his head by the Big Cactus. one of Shaq's new nicknames. Shaq accidentally hit Bell behind the head and Raja had to leave the rest of the game, afterwards it looked like he had a golf ball on his head. Some reports state that he did not even remember getting hit and that he had a concussion.

Speaking of Raja Bell, before being taken out of the game by Shaq, he was assigned to guard Kobe Bryant. Of course Raja Bell is thought by many to be the best defensive player in the league but it didn't matter to Kobe. Kobe Bryant scored 41 points on 16-25 shooting and dazzled the crowd with some spectacular plays. The many Laker fans who were down in Phoenix sure appreciated it as Kobe left Raja Bell in the dust on many plays. Even taking him one on one to the hole and giving a highlight dunk over three Phoenix Suns. Pau Gasol also had a great game scoring 29 points in 34 minutes and the chemistry between Gasol and Bryant seems perfect since Gasol came over to the Lakers. Another key Laker in the game was Lamar Odom who had 22 points and 11 rebounds. It's great to see Odom have a great game like he did tonight as Lamar seemed to get these stats quietly during the game. Shasa Vujacic (AKA - the machine) came off the bench and had 15 points going 4-9 and looked real good in this game as he has become a really dependable shooter for the Lakers.

Though the Lakers controlled most of the game Phoenix at many times would cut the Lakers lead to a point or two and actually caught them late in the game. Every time Phoenix would rally though Kobe Bryant seemed to lead the surge again and start a new Lakers run to give the Lakers a comfortable lead again. Kobe was no doubt the MVP of this game. On a side note, Kobe Bryant passed San Antonio Spurs legend David Robinson on the all time scoring list to take the 27th spot.

The Lakers have a good chance of claiming the Pacific Division lead all to themselves as the Suns next two games are against the great Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons.