The up and running Phoenix Suns as I sensed last week, will be facing the reigning NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers starting Monday next week.
The Suns completely outplayed the fast aging San Antonio Spurs in their Western Conference semifinals series to score a resounding 4-0 sweep and put away whatever past playoffs frustrations they have with Tim Duncan and Co.
Now, the big challenge ahead of the Suns is how they could match up size-wise against the Lakers, whose frontline combo of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum posed terrible problems against an undersized and injury-depleted Utah Jazz.
Gasol, the 7-foot Spanish center, finished off the Jazz in Game with 33 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks on the Lakers’ series-clinching 111-96 victory over Utah.
The Lakers obviously will have to contend with Suns playmaker Steve Nash, who at 36, continues to play like a young, energetic college point guard.
His plays with pick-and-roll partner Amare Stoudemire gave the biggest headache on San Antonio coach Greg Popovich whose speed and athleticism (by the Phoenix’s 6′10″ power forward) proved too much to handle.
Defense will be the Lakers’ ticket once more if they hope to make it back to the NBA’s Finals’.
Head-to-head, the Lakers took the regular season series, 3-1 with Los Angeles winning by more than 20 points in those two encounters held at the Staples Center.
Dallas, Denver and San Antonio, three squads tipped to seriously challenge Los Angeles in the West are now out of playoffs contention. Now, it’s up to Nash, Stoudemire and the Suns to prove they deserve to be in the Western Conference Finals. And if they get past the Lakers, make it to the Finals.
Whose your bet? Suns or Lakers?
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