The Lakers Are Just Too Good

The title says it all, they can beat you so many different ways, all of which were on display Monday night in their 128-107 beatdown of Phoenix. They used their size to outrebound the Suns 42 to 34, utilized the three point shot 8-17 (47%), and have Kobe Bryant, the best player remaining in the playoffs who is capable of scoring 40 every night like he did tonight.
It's hard to bet against a team led by a guy who can still play effectively looking like this, but the Suns looked completely overmatched Monday night. If the Suns have any hope of competing with the Lakers in this series, these three things need to happen:

1) Channing Frye has to hit the three. Frye went 1-7 from behind the arc. That's not going to cut it, especially when the Suns entire game plan is structured around being able to outscore the Lakers from the three point line. Frye's shooting is particularly important when he's matched up with Lamar Odom. Odom disrupted Frye's shooting rhythm all game, and also managed to pull down 12 defensive rebounds (19 total). If Frye can consistently hit the three this series, he'll pull Odom outside of the paint and force the other Lakers bigs to rebound.
2) Make Kobe Bryant work on defense. In Game 1 Kobe had it way too easy matched  up with Grant Hill and Jared Dudley. Since neither Hill nor Dudley is a threat to drive to the basket, Kobe can relax on defense and save his energy for the offensive end. This gets back to the point of three pointing shooting, Dudley needs to to be able to hit the three consistently enough to make Kobe defend him on the perimeter. The Suns need to seriously consider running a three guard lineup of Nash, Richardson and Barbosa. Make Kobe defend either Barbosa or Richardson, and he will burn energy being forced to guard them on the perimeter and chasing them through screens.

3) Score fastbreak points. The Suns only scored 4 fastbreak points in Game 1. They need to take advantage of their ability to run the floor. Even their big men Stoudemire, Lopez, and Frye are all capable of getting down the court. Making Bynum and Gasol run the floor should also limit their effectiveness in the paint, where the Suns were outscored by 20. Of course, in order to start the break, the Suns need to rebound the ball better and keep Odom off the offensive glass. Easier said than done.