Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers Live Streaming

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9:00 pm EDT Thu May 27, 2010

The Lakers’ swagger is more of a stagger after consecutive losses in the Western Conference finals. After leaving town last week to chants of “We want Boston,” Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol realize they won’t even get the chance to defend their NBA title unless Los Angeles starts defending the Phoenix Suns. Although Gasol says Game 5 on Thursday night is “a must-win for us,” the champions’ California cool shows few signs of cracking, beyond Bryant’s grumbling about missed defensive assignments. After surviving a near-identical jam in last season’s conference finals against Denver, the Lakers came away with a confidence they can rise to any occasion—even a best-two-of-three series against a surging, shot-making opponent with rising confidence of its own.

The Lakers have been in this situation three previous times over the past two playoffs: a series tied at 2, with Game 5 at home. Los Angeles won each time, beating Houston and the Nuggets last season before trouncing Oklahoma City last month in the first round. Overall, they’ve won Game 5 seven straight times at home. Yet the Suns hold every smidgen of momentum heading back to Staples Center after winning the last two games with a gimmicky zone defense, impressive bench play and another phenomenal exhibition of offense. Los Angeles’ 58 percent shooting in its first two victories masked its full series of ineffective defense so far: Los Angeles has yielded 113 points per game, and Phoenix has shaken off a brief spell of outside shooting problems. At least the Lakers are back home, where they haven’t lost in seven playoff games this spring.