Final Score: Lakers 128, Suns 107

The Phoenix Suns got a taste of their own medicine on Monday night.

The Suns, the NBA's highest scoring and best percentage 3-point shooting team all season, saw the Los Angeles Lakers drop 127 points on them in Game 1 while shooting 47% from long range.

The Suns had just 108 points and shot 23% from behind the arc.

The Lakers put on an offensive clinic from the opening tip, shooting 58% from the field and led by 40 points from Kobe Bryant.

Bryant had 40 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in his best performance of the playoffs. He shot 13 for 23 from the field, 3 for 6 from three, and 11 for 12 from the foul line on the way to his sixth consecutive 30-point game in the postseason. Bryant had 21 points in the third quarter, as the Lakers busted open a formerly close game.

Kobe was fantastic tonight, and so were most of his teammates. Lamar Odom had a huge night, scoring 19 points and grabbing 19 rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench. Odom was dominant from the start, when he came in and grabbed several offensive rebounds and scored easy baskets from close to the rim. He shot 9 for 15 from the floor.

Pau Gasol was equally effective around the rim, scoring 21 points on 10 of 13 shooting. Gasol and Odom had way too easy of a time scoring inside, even with the presence of 7-footer Robin Lopez in the lineup.

Suns coach Alvin Gentry pointed to the Lakers ability to easily drive into the teeth of their defense as the catalyst to all the easy baskets. Time and time again, Kobe Bryant was able to make middle drives to the hoop to either score from mid-range or find his big guys inside for quick scores.

When Kobe gets going from the perimeter, it has a huge effect on the rest of the offense. All of a sudden, his defender needs to get up into him on the perimeter and the big guys need to be wary of helping, allowing the potential for Bryant to drive to the basket and look to pass off rather than shoot. The Suns were so fearful of Bryant's ability to score easily, that they ended up giving too many points to his teammates in the process. This was all while allowing Bryant to go off for 40.

The Suns played fairly well offensively, but all the players and coach Gentry know that they can still be more efficient. Steve Nash had 13 points and 13 assists in just 28 minutes of play. His backup, Goran Dragic, also played pretty well. He had 13 points in 20 minutes.

Amar'e Stoudemire had a team-high 23 points on 8 for 13 shooting, but he only grabbed 3 rebounds.

The lack of rebounding presence for the Suns was a huge factor. It's probably the biggest improvement that they can make in Game 2, along with their three-point shooting.

The Suns were outrebounded 42-34, led by Lamar Odom's 19 boards. They must do a better job. Robin Lopez's presence was key to improving their chances inside, and he had a big game. Lopez had 14 points and 6 rebounds. But Stoudemire only had 3 rebounds, Lopez's 6 were a fairly low total, and Grant Hill had just 1 rebound. The Lakers can eat teams up on the boards, leading to extra opportunities for themselves and limiting second chance points for opponents.

Jason Richardson had 15 points for Phoenix, and Grant Hill had 7. Leandro Barbosa added 11 off the bench.

Overall, Phoenix played well enough offensively. They scored fairly easily, and made baskets when they needed to. They just could not make any key stops at all, and had no answer for either Kobe Bryant or Gasol/Odom inside. And, they couldn't make up for their interior inferiority by making threes. A 5-for-22 effort from behind the arc is not typical Phoenix basketball, and that won't be good enough to win in this series.

The Lakers, of course, are the best team in the NBA at defending the three, and they proved it tonight. Phoenix must get the better of that matchup from behind the arc, or else they might be in for a long series.

There's much to take from this Game 1 victory by the Lakers. There's a good chance that the Suns are going to throw some zone defense at the Lakers in the next game to try to get the L.A. offense off balance. Phoenix definitely needs to contain Odom and Gasol better, and try to get some better individual defense on Kobe Bryant. Grant Hill simply had a bad game tonight, and Jared Dudley was hit with 2 personal fouls within 30 seconds of entering the game. That might it tough to defend Kobe one-on-one.

However, things could easily turn around in the next game. Alvin Gentry was very blatant in his assessment of his team's play tonight. In every huddle that TNT broadcast, he was reiterating the same phrase, "We'll be fine." He kept saying it.

"Don't worry guys, we'll be fine."

Gentry believes it, and so do his players. They had an off night, and they played very poor defense. They know what they need to fix, and it starts at the defensive end. Things could easily turn around in Game 2.

The Lakers, though, are in the driver's seat. They're very pleased with their performance tonight, and it starts with Kobe Bryant's ability to take over the game. It's a given that L.A. has an advantage inside, but when Bryant is hitting his shots from the perimeter and driving the lane, then it's a perfect storm for Phoenix to defend. There's no way to contain Kobe, stop Gasol one-on-one, keep the Lakers off the offensive boards, and contest outside shooters all at the same time. It starts with containing Bryant as best as they can.

Let's not forget Shannon Brown's near trampoline-like dunk over Jason Richardson in the third quarter. Out of nowhere, Brown bounced from the foul-line area and hopped over Richardson, nearly dunking it for one of the craziest highlight dunks you will see. Unfortunately, it didn't fall through the hoop. Brown had 9 points in 18 minutes off the bench.

Phil Jackson is 46-0 in playoff series when he wins Game 1. The Lakers are looking to extend that absurd number to 47. Jackson was pleased with his team's play tonight, but knows that momentum can easily swing in Game 2.

Be ready for an exciting Game 2 on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.