Key to Game 5 of Lakers vs. Suns

So what is up with the Lakers? They just can’t seem to figure out the Suns “girly-zone” as Suns head coach Alvin Gentry calls it. And they can’t handle the Suns intangible. The Lakers are still scoring but the suns are scoring more so what does that mean? The Lakers are playing terrible Defense.

Keys to Lakers win:

Play defense. Plain and simple at this point. The Lakers are playing just terrible D. Ron Artest isn’t playing like his normal self or like he did in the 1st 2 games. Instead of Artest, how bout play like last year’s playoff star Trevor Ariza?

Gasol, Bynum, Odom, Artest. These guys are a shame of themselves. Nothing like in game 1 and 2. It’s a joke. No defense. No rebounds. Not shooting well. Dumb mistakes. None of them are playing like the stars they are and they should be embarrassed.

If the Lakers just play up to their potential, they will win.

Keys to Suns win:

Nash and Stoudemire must play the slash game they are so good at. If Amare can get loose and play like he did when he scored 42 and Nash can distribute and make those key shot the Suns are set.

The true key to the game though in my opinion is Robin Lopez. The guy looks like a straight up caveman and has been playing like a beast. At Stanford he was overlooked for his brother and was thought as the defensive guy. Well Lopez is a monster on defense and has shown a surprising offensive game lately. The strange thing about it, Lopez was out for an extended period time yet he is playing like he didn’t miss a beat.

Bench help would be nice again. Jared Dudley and Channing Frye were on fire in game 3 (mainly Dudley)
And game 4 (Dudley played good but Frye went off). On top of that, Dragic has been playing like he could be a nice replacement to Nash. Little early on that one but he did have 20+ in a game against the Spurs and now continues to play at an excellent level against the Lakers.

Prediction: Lakers win tonight and win the series on Saturday