Final Score: Lakers 124, Suns 112

The Phoenix Suns are playing well enough offensively in the Western Conference Finals and have scored enough points on the road to compete with the favored Los Angeles Lakers. Phoenix shot 49% from the field tonight.

However, the Suns have absolutely no answer for the Lakers' well-oiled machine that is their half court offense.

On Wednesday night, the Lakers put up 124 points in a Game 2 victory, following scoring 127 in Game 1, to take a 2-0 series lead in the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers shot 58% from the field.

Pau Gasol had 29 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks on 11 of 19 shooting in a smooth, dominant performance. Gasol time and time again posted up Amar'e Stoudemire in one-on-one situations, able to either score at the rim, hit jump shots, get fouled, or find an open teammate. Stoudemire began to front Gasol defensively, but Los Angeles stayed with the gameplan and just adjusted to the defense, sending lob passes inside for Gasol to finish or dish off for instant offense.

"We're shooting the ball very well, moving the ball really, really well," Gasol said. "Our bench is playing at a high level, and we're all stepping up."

Gasol agrees that the Laker offense is clearly a perfect, well-oiled machine right now.

Gasol also went 7 for 10 from the free throw line, capitalizing on opportunities when he was fouled.

"I was being effective and just finishing plays," Gasol said. "We just continued to go to it because it was working pretty well for us."

Kobe Bryant followed up his 40-point performance in Game 1 with a very strong all-around game tonight, finishing with 21 points, 5 rebounds, and a playoff career-high 13 assists. Bryant shot 8 for 18 from the field and could have continued to attack Phoenix's one-on-one defense, but he also saw opportunities to find teammates for easier baskets, especially in pick-and-roll situations.

"It makes the game a lot easier to have (Gasol) inside to catch and complete plays," Kobe said. "We're extremely well-versed in playing against teams that double and zone, things like that."

Ron Artest added 18 big points for the Lakers, able to knock down wide open three-point shots when his man left him open on the offensive end to go double Bryant or Gasol.

Lamar Odom followed his dominant 19 point, 19 rebound effort in Game 1 with 17 points and 11 rebounds off the bench in this one. He also added 4 assists and 3 steals, and it all seemed to come fairly easily.

"It's really tough because we have so many guys on this team that can hurt you offensively," said Odom. "When we get four or five guys going offensively, it seems like our defense steps up. We do a great job of using our quickness, cutting guys off and making it hard for teams as well as putting that offensive pressure on them."

The Lakers really did have 4 or 5 guys that killed Phoenix on the offensive end. L.A's collective size and strength just makes it more difficult for the Suns to try to play catch up and score easy baskets on the Laker defense. It's a tough situation for Phoenix.

Steve Nash had 11 points and 15 assists in the game. He played tough and ran a smooth offense, but he's not able to dominate the flow of the game in Los Angeles with the Lakers playing so effectively on defense, combined with their constant scoring on the offensive end. Nash took just 8 shots, and he also had an uncharacteristic 5 turnovers.

"We still scored enough points tonight, but when they can score 120-something, that's asking the offense to score too much," said Nash. "If we're going to beat them, we've got to find a way to slow them down."

Jason Richardson, Jared Dudley, and Grant Hill led the way for Phoenix on the offensive end. Richardson had 27 points on 10 of 17 shooting. Hill shot the exact same percentage, 10 for 17, with 23 points. Dudley hit 5 threes off the bench for 15 big points. He also played very good defense on Kobe Bryant, and added 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals.

Dudley gave the Suns a huge lift off the bench. Grant Hill executed perfectly in his opportunities, as the Lakers continued to sag off the veteran and allowed him to shoot jump shots. Hill knocked down all his mid-range shots.

But even Phoenix's solid offensive effort was not enough to win this game. They either need to play much better defense, or play a completely perfect offensive game. Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire would have to play better offensively in order for the latter to happen.

Stoudemire had 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks for the Suns. He shot 7 for 14 from the floor and was farily efficient. But he was not at all dominant, and also turned the ball over 5 times. Even worse, Amar'e struggled defensively to guard Pau Gasol. He simply could not defend Gasol one-on-one. And in pick-and-roll defense that got him on the move, Stoudemire struggled to recover after showing on the man with the ball. This left his man (Gasol) with wide open catches to the hoop on several occasions.

Overall, the Lakers are just playing perfect right now. Their defense is bending enough to let Phoenix run their offense, but not breaking to let the Suns feel comfortable attacking them. And the L.A. offense is just working to perfection, whether against a man or zone. They are running a great pick-and-roll offense, playing great with Kobe Bryant initiating the offense on the wing, can play straight up triangle offense with Fisher up top, or can play through Gasol down low.

Phoenix still has a great chance, though, to keep the series competitive. The goal was to steal a game on the road, but it didn't happen. The Lakers did what they were supposed to do and what they had to do, by winning Games 1 and 2 at home.

This game was tied at 90 after the 3rd quarter. The Suns were a good 4th quarter away from making this an entirely different series. Instead, the Lakers played the perfect quarter in the final period, and Phoenix struggled to stop the defending champs.

The Suns are hoping to turn things around at home in Game 3. They know they will be able to control the tempo better in Phoenix, and they're hoping to make the Lakers more uncomfortable in their offensive attack on the road.

They better hope that the home environment changes something for the Lakers. Because as is, L.A. cannot be stopped.

We might be in for a game played in the 130's in Phoenix, if both teams keep playing this well offensively.

"We can't slow them down," Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said. "I thought we played well offensively, but every time we tried to make an adjustment to slow them down offensively, they would go somewhere else. There's a good reason they're the world champs, but we'll keep plugging away, keep trying."

Game 3, in Phoenix on Sunday, will be fun to watch.