Moon, Suns BOTH Get Eclipsed!

For those of you who have not stepped outside or looked out the window tonight, you might be totally unaware that a full lunar eclipse is happening at the moment. The next one doesn't take place until 2010. So get a looksie at it if you can!!!

During the lunar eclipse, there was a sort of "solar eclipse" happening tonight on the basketball court in Phoenix as the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Suns. The Lakers had the upper hand from the get-go. The Suns led at 19-18 with 4:13 to play in the first quarter and then didn't lead again until late in the game. The Lakers took a 32-29 lead into the second quarter and extended their advantage to 65-57 at halftime. The Suns came back though, and forged to a 106-105 lead on a 3-point play by Amare Stoudemire with 7:26 to play. From there though, the Lakers regained control, as Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Sasha Vujacic poured in 23 of their next 25 points. The Lakers closed out the game with a 24-15 run to put it away. The final: LAKERS 130, SUNS 124. With the win, the Lakers clinched the season series with the Suns and by virtue of this are now in first place in the Pacific Division (both teams are tied with 37-17 records).

The Lakers 3-headed monster of Kobe, Pau and "L.O." gave the Suns fits all night long. Kobe scored 41 points in making 16 of his 25 shot attempts. Pau contributed with 29 points on similarly efficient 13-for-19 shooting. And how about Mr. Lamar Odom? Well, he was smooth as silk, tossing in 22 points (on 9-for 17 shooting) and grabbing 11 rebounds. Being the third option on offense really seems to suit "L.O." very well!

Shaq made his debut for the Suns tonight. He only played 29 minutes, but did contribute 15 points and 9 rebounds. How was Shaq at the line? 3-for-8 for a typical 37.5% And when they really needed some defensive presence at the end of the game, guess who the Suns pulled with 47 seconds left to play? You can bet that Lakers would have employed the "Hack-A-Shaq" if they had been given the opportunity.

So where do we go from here? Well, unless the Lakers suddenly lose their confidence or get a key injury, I don't see anything that's going to stop them from winning the Pacific Division and maybe going into the playoffs as the number one seed in the Western Conference!

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