The Suns, Beaten into Disbandment

"The Lakers won far too easily." Jerry West smiled as he flipped through the playoff team reports.

In the series against the Suns, Danny Ainge had stubbornly scrambled to adjust his tactics.

Ceballos had also played the best series of his career, averaging 21+8 from the power forward position.

But none of that changed the fact that the Lakers had crushed the Suns in every aspect.

3:0!

The Lakers had been the first team to tip off in the playoffs, and they were also the first team to advance!

In three games, the first ended with the Suns losing 89:123 to the Lakers.

Kobe posted a massive triple-double! 34 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists, 7 steals, 3 blocks, and 5 turnovers!

Game two!

Suns 97:120 Lakers.

Kobe played only 31 minutes before clocking out with 27 points, 8 rebounds, 14 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, and 2 turnovers.

Kidd, meanwhile, was completely shut down! He turned in an embarrassing star performance of 5 points, 6 rebounds, and 10 assists.

If Kidd had been the third option, that kind of performance would have been quite good.

But he was the Suns' leader! He was the player who monopolized the most possessions on the entire team. When your team's leader could score only 5 points, your team had no chance of winning!

Kidd became Kobe's backdrop. In this series, the elite guard who had once been hailed alongside Grant Hill as one of the Twin Stars of '94 was knocked off his pedestal.

Game three!

They headed to Phoenix.

Phoenix fans passionately supported their team!

But it still made no difference!

Lakers 135:89 Suns!

A massacre!

The game entered garbage time very early.

The furious argument between Kidd and Danny Ainge, both red-faced, became a major topic of discussion among the fans.