Lakers: Player Report Card For Loss Against Phoenix Suns

MVP – Sorry Suns fans, but if not for Kobe Bryant, this isn’t a contest. He’s the winner tonight. His 14 points in the 4th quarter was just about all the offense the Lakers could muster, but it wasn’t enough. Still, Bryant did everything he could, playing in a season-high 44 minutes, but with a week off, Byron Scott could afford to give Bryant the extra minutes.

LVP – The least valuable player award goes to Carlos Boozer, and he’ll get a lot of this award. He was caught flat-footed defensively too often and when he wasn’t, he was simply getting blown by. Offensively, he looked lost when he didn’t have the ball and tried to challenge bigger, more athletic players when he did (most notably, Alex Len rejecting him quite easily on an iso move).

Stat Of The Night  – 30-41. That’s the Lakers FT shooting on the night. In a game where they trailed by four points late in the fourth quarter, the Lakers’ struggles at the free throw line likely cost them the game. Uncharacteristically, Bryant missed four free throws, but that could be attributed to the 37 field goal attempts he shot and 44 minutes he played tonight.