Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Kobe Bryant sat out Saturday night’s 125-105 loss in Phoenix to rest his sore shin. Without the services of the league’s leading scorer the Lakers decided to give their defense an off night too.

Aside from an active and energetic first quarter the Lakers were largely lifeless, barely even attempting to get in the way of the Suns when they attacked the hoop or close out on them when they shot from deep.

Former Lakers fan favorite Shannon Brown lit up the Lake Show for a team best 24. So too did super sub Michael Redd who led a Suns bench that won a one sided duel with the Lakers second unit. Phoenix got 55 points from their bench, 23 produced by the sharp shooting Redd. Compare that to L.A.’s 10 points from the second squad and it’s a first round knockout.

Early on you saw the writing on the wall. Mike Brown wanted to pound the rock inside and Alvin Gentry had his team prepared for that exact strategy. In the first quarter alone Andrew Bynum shot an unheard of 2 out of 11. Marcin Gortat is one of the few bigs that bothers Bynum both with his size and activity level. Drew was harassed all night long, nearly blowing his cool again after being fouled in the third.

Now don’t get it confused, the Laker bigs still played up in KB24’s absence. Pau Gasol went for 30 and 13 while Bynum did damage with 23 and 18 of his own. The problem was the two typically efficient post players became volume scorers taking a staggering 52 shots between them.

For whatever its worth Devin Ebanks played the best game of his young career, scoring 12 points in 32 minutes of play. But he didn’t give the Lakers any boost defensively.

The Lakers gave an inconsistent effort all night, making occasional runs to close the gap only to be undone by dismal defense.

The horrendous defense is really nothing new. This was going to be a problem with out without Kobe. Lately the Lakers have given a defensive effort only Mike D’Antonio would appreciate. Tonight was a sad showing all the way around. About the only man that left it all on the court was Metta World Peace who put together his second straight solid offensive outing scoring 19 on 8 of 10 shooting.

We can now toss Kobe’s shin into the growing pile of questions surrounding the Lakers as the make their playoff push. Usually this is the time you’d like to be playing your best hoops. The Lakers are doing the exact opposite. Even worse is that they’re going to have to correct their errors on the road with two more coming up away from Staples. So far it doesn’t look like the Lakers packed their defense for the trip. Maybe someone back in L.A. and overnight it in time for Monday’s game in New Orleans.

Kobe, Lakers were lights out against Suns. (Photo: Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE)

Whatever it is about the Phoenix Suns that brings out the best in the Lakers and Kobe Bryant needs to be carried over to every other opponent the Lake Show faces. The first half of this home-and-home series went the way of Los Angeles as an offensive explosion led to a 111-99 Laker victory.

Believe it or not this one was a back and forth battle that could have gone either way. Phoenix opened up a 7-point lead in the first half thanks to Marcin Gortat and Steve Nash who were connecting like Legos all night.

Gortat ran the floor, finished at the rim and controlled the boards as he paved the way for Phoenix with a sick line of 21 and 16. Normally you’d think getting that kind of production from your center would be good enough to win the battle in the middle. But that’s not going to cut it when Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum are as active as they were tonight.

The Laker bigs weren’t heavily involved in the offense so they did their damage by owing the paint. Both Gasol and Drew posted double-doubles as the twin towers combined for 27 and 27. Pau’s underwhelming shooting continues to be troublesome but who needs a seven footer shooting a high percentage when you’ve got Mamba locked in?

There is just no other way to say this…

Kobe Bryant kills the Suns. After a 36-point, 9-rebound and 6-assist effort Bryant could only smile when asked if there is something about Phoenix that brings out the best in him.

You can almost hear Bryant’s thoughts on nights like this. As if every bad memory of the Suns running the Lake Show out of the playoffs some years ago was on a constant loop on the Staples scoreboard, Kobe played with a Nash sized chip on his shoulder.

KB24 shot lights out going 14 of 25 with a lot of those coming in very unorthodox fashion. 18 of Kobe’s points came in the third helping the Lakers to blow their lead all the way up to a healthy 20-point cushion.

But that lead wouldn’t last.

While the Lakers got perhaps their best effort of the year from the bench, the second unit was largely responsible for letting the Suns back into this one.

Falling into the trap of trying to run with the Suns allowed Phoenix to cut the Laker lead down to single digits at one point in the final frame. Former Laker Shannon Brown had a sick tip dunk that put Phoenix square in position to steal a win.

Mike Brown called a timeout, the starters were reinserted and order was restored.

What stands out about this game was the infectious energy every Laker brought to the table. Matt Barnes was fired up and feisty going for a season high 17 on 6 of 7 shooting. Were it not for a desperation heave to beat the shot clock Barnes would have had a perfect night.

With regards to perfection, Bryant hit all the right notes. Kobe was in killer mode from the start and never let his foot off the gas. He was determined to school Grant Hill whenever the two were facing each other. Bryant was diving for balls out of bounds, making left hand floaters and pulling up for threes in transition.

As a team the Lakers shot a ridiculous 53% from the field, 45% from three and 75% from the line. Those are numbers that will always win in the NBA.

Overall it was the kind of effort you’d love to see the Lakers give every night. The bench looked nothing like their usual listless selves. There was a real effort made to outplay the Suns’ second string as if Coach Brown issued some kind of challenge before the opening tip.

If it takes seeing the Suns to get those purple and gold juices flowing then the Lakers are in luck. They’ll get Saturday to rest and then Sunday they’ll see those same Suns again this time in Phoenix. Slowly but surely momentum is being built and it couldn’t come at a better time. The week leading up to the All-Star break is filled with crucial contests for the Lakers. They’ll need the Phoenix effort against the Likes of the Blazers, Mavs and Thunder in the coming days.