Shooting Star Faces Another Early Flameout

PHOENIX

If you want to see Kobe Bryant's acrobatic moves to free himself from defenders, his furious explosions to the basket and the theater that always surrounds the greatest basketball soloist in the world, you'd better look quick because he won't be around for much longer. Almost certainly, it's a short engagement Kobe is playing in these NBA playoffs, likely four games, at best the bonus of a fifth.

Not even one of Kobe's celestial scoring stretches is likely to alter the harsh reality of this series. The Los Angeles Lakers need a talent infusion while the Phoenix Suns have the best seven-man rotation in the league, including three NBA all-stars, the reigning two-time most valuable player, the league's best sixth man and a feeling that in order to advance deep in this postseason they need to make quick work of the Lakers.

The fact that the Lakers couldn't cash in on Bryant's 28-point first half in Game 1 on Sunday is a sign of how much trouble they're in. It might be an overstatement to say the Suns have no regard for the Lakers, but they're certainly unfazed by Bryant's scoring outbursts. And immediately after the 95-87 loss, Bryant was annoyed with his teammates, his teammates were annoyed he didn't pass them the ball more, and the Lakers were back in a familiar position in the post-Shaq era: Kobe is a thrill to watch but the oooohs and aaaahs aren't going to translate into postseason basketball success. This will be Kobe's third straight year of not getting out of the first round of the playoffs.

The Suns yawned when Bryant hit 11 of his 17 shots in the first half, and also when he missed 12 of 13 to close the game. "In our case," Steve Nash said, "I feel we can beat them even if Kobe has a huge night. The guy is great, he's explosive. But we're explosive."

The point is, Kobe Bryant isn't going to outscore Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and newly crowned top sixth-man Leandro Barbosa, who comes off the bench for the Suns but would be the second-best offensive player on the Lakers, behind only Bryant. The Suns don't care if Bryant scores 50 in Game 2 on Tuesday night; in fact, they're convinced that the more he scores the less effective his teammates will be.

"He needs one or two more players with him," Suns reserve Jalen Rose said after Game 1. "He's got a talented kid at guard in Jordan Farmar, but he's a rookie starting his first playoff game. Andrew Bynum is what, 19 years old?

"Look, Kobe's the most complete player in the game, offensively and defensively. People always talk about wanting to see the next Jordan. You're not going to come any closer. He scored 39 points and held Raja Bell to two in a playoff game.

"He's the face of the league. If the Suns had been playing anybody else we wouldn't have been on ABC in the marquee time period. But we literally triple-teamed him. The guy defending their [point guard] and their [small forward] helped. When he goes into a move, it's literally, 'Help!' then surround him with three people."

Kobe lovers say that other than Lamar Odom (17 points, 16 rebounds in Game 1) he has nobody reliable to pass the ball to.

Kobe haters say his one assist in the series opener speaks to how unwilling he is to pass the ball, even when triple-teamed.